)R. HlGBEE " 

MEMORIAl 



Volume 




>RESENTEI) liV 




ELNATHAN EUSHA HIGBEE, D. D. Uv. D., 

State Superintendent of Public Instruction of Pennsylvania. 

April i, 1881 — Dec. 13, 1889. 



TAKEN r,Y BAYI.OK, AT AGE OF FIFTY-FIVE Y'EARS. 



O Man Greatly Beloved. — Dan' Is.; 19. 



TRIBUTES OF LOVING MEMORY 



ELNATHAN ELISHA HlGBEE, 



FOR NEARLY NINE YEARS 



STATE SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION OF PENNSYLVANIA, 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 



SELECTIONS FROM HIS WRITINGS IN PROSE AND VERSE. 



On the fount of life eternal gazing wistful and athirst, 
"Yearning, striving, from the prison of confining flesh to burst, 
Here the soul an exile sighs for her native Paradise. 

Preacher of Righteousness and Friend of Humanity, Foremost in athletic sports in his youth ; in manhood 
foremost among Scholars and Teachers. An eloquent orator, a wise counselor, a modest man, who at his death, it 
has been well said, was probably the most widely beloved man in Pennsylvania.— From Memorial Portrait. 

Surely he was wise, for he saw that which was true; he was pure, for he loved that which was beautiful; he was 
righteous, for he did that which was good.— L. E. Patridge. 

His life was gentle, and the elements 

So mix'd in him that Nature might stand up 

And say to all the world, "This was a man ! " 

Julius Ccesar, Act V, Scene V. 



LANCASTER, PA. 

PENNSYLVANIA SCHOOL JOURNAL. 
1890. 



Lfta-s 



records of the 



n 



THE Dr. Higbee Memorial will go upon the educational records of the State, and will be spoken 
of hereafter, as the first successful effort made in Pennsylvania by the schools at large, to show enduring 
respect to the memory of a man whom the State "delights to honor," because of his great service in the 
educational field. It is, we trust, but the first of a long line of like noble efforts to give expression to this 
sentiment of gratitude and affection. Such effort "blesses him that gives" even more than it ennobles the 
memory of him to whom due honor is paid. This Memorial Fund must aid in educating children in one of 
the best directions. Dr. Higbee was himself a grand giver of free-will offerings. He died leaving a modest 
estate, the bulk of it an insurance upon his life, but this was the very least of his princely possessions. The 
idea of the Fund was conceived and urged by his numerous friends, not because he needs it to perpetuate 
his memory, but largely because the entire Commonwealth will be benefited ; and the Committee, as they 
now regard this Memorial, would not be satisfied with even generous contributions, unless they should thereby 
be enabled to put into the Schools and into the hands of the Teachers that which shall do them permanent good. 
When the suggestion was made by Supt. Brumbaugh and seconded, in such prompt and practical manner, 
by Supt. Brecht, it was thought that a Monument of approved design to the memory of Dr. E. E. Higbee 
might be erected upon the Capitol Grounds at Harrisburg. The Memorial Committee, appointed at the late 
meeting of the Pennsylvania State Teachers' Association, after full inquiry from the proper authorities, learned 
that this honor, eminently merited and strongly urged upon the State Legislature, had been denied by that body 
to two of the most distinguished Governors of Pennsylvania, Hon. Thomas Mifflin and Hon. John W. Geary. 
The following form of Memorial to Dr. Higbee was then decided upon, which is regarded more fitting 
because more certain to widen and deepen in Pennsylvania the blessed influence of our late Superintendent 
of Public Instruction. It is the most unique in kind, and will, we believe, prove the most effective in result, in 
the history of education in America ; and we are gratified to know, from the very large number of replies to 
our circular-letters of inquiry, that it has the almost unanimous approval of the Superintendents of the State. 

1. Monument of Granite, suitably inscribed, at the grave of Dr. Higbee, at Emmitsburg, Maryland. This 
to be after a design approved by the family of the deceased. Also, a fund of Two Hundred Dollars or more 
invested, in perpetuity, with responsible Trust Company, income of said fund to be expended in keeping in 
proper condition the ground about the Monument. The stone will be a single block of Quincy granite weigh- 
ing over eleven tons. The design is a massive Cross of polished granite apparently cast upon the native rock. 
The Monument will be made by Herman Strecker, of Reading, the sculptor and naturalist. 

2. A life size Bust in Bronze, with suitable pedestal, to be placed in the Department of Public Instruction 
at Harrisburg. This to be in lieu of the memorial which it was at first thought might be placed upon the 
Capitol Grounds. This work also has been placed in the hands of Mr. Strecker, whose artistic skill, acquaint- 
ance with artists, and personal friendship for Dr. Higbee must all contribute to a satisfactory result. 

3. A life-size Picture of Dr. Higbee, suitably framed, to be placed in the Department of Public Instruction, 
and in the State Library at Harrisburg. These are strong, life-like pictures, crayoned lithographs of life size. 

4. A life size Picture of Dr. Higbee, suitably framed, to be placed in each of the State Normal Schools of 
Pennsylvania ; and in each of the institutions of learning with which he was at any time connected as student, 
professor or president; and a copy of the same to be sent to his family. 

<;. A life-size Picture, suitably framed, to be placed in the office of each of the County, City, Borough, and 
Township Superintendents of Pennsylvania. 

6. A life-size Picture to be sent to each School from which any Contribution has been or shall hereafter 
(till January 1st, 1891) be received to this Memorial Fund. These pictures are Lithographs of equal excel- 
lence with The Atlantic Monthly portraits which are sold at One Dollar each. They will be sent — of course, 
without frames — to be framed by the schools receiving them in such manner as they shall approve. They will 
remain in the schools receiving them, where contributions were taken, as the property of the School. 

7. A Memorial Volume, containing tributes of loving memory and selections from writings, addresses, etc., 
of Dr. Higbee, to accompany each picture sent out by the Committee, so far as possible, and to the limit of 
Ten Thousand copies. Beyond this number the Picture will be sent without the Volume, unless there be 
money enough in hand to print a second edition. It is the design of the Committee that this Volume shall be 
the personal property of the Teacher, both for the thoughts it may suggest and the inspiration it may afford. 
Indeed, in a certain sense the Committee regard this as probably the most extraordinary book of its kind, and 
one of the best professional works on teaching — showing the matter, life, and abiding results of a great teacher's 
work — yet issued from the American press. Five thousand copies are already called for. The rest will be 
sent out as ordered — until all are gone. The picture and book complement each other admirably, but the 
Volume, at the same time that it costs most money, is the most valuable feature of the Dr. Higbee Memorial, 
for in it are to be found the very life and moving spirit of the man. The book contains as much matter as 
the ordinary volume of 500 or 600 pages. In printing it more than three tons of paper have been used. 

That opportunity may be afforded to make more general the influence of the Dr. Higbee Memorial, the time 
of receiving contributions was extended, at Mauch Chunk meeting of Committee, to January 1st, 1891, the 
Fund remaining open until that date. The Memorial Portrait will be mailed at |i.OO ; the Volume, Cloth, 
$I.OO, in flexible card, 50 CtS. A circular of rates at which Portrait will be framed for those desiring it, 
(one-third less than retail prices), may be had from Art Department of John Wanamaker, Philadelphia. 
Please do not ask for free copies of Portrait or Volume until the entire cost of the Memorial has been paid. 

We have seen a remarkable letter bearing date "Feb. 8, 1881," which was found among Dr. Higbee's 
papers a few days since. It is from a man of eminent ability and fine scholarship, who knew Dr. Higbee well, 
and was written shortly before his appointment to the Superintendency. He says : " How I would love to 
see you and such as you in like positions! I have been thinking of Horace Mann — his statue in Boston, and 
the reverence with which he is regarded everywhere. If you have this place assigned to you, there will be in 
our State House some day a statue of Parian marble to mark the figure and countenance of E. E. Higbee." 
The prediction is more than verified — but in a form far beyond the choicest marble of old Greece. 

-^•MEMORIAL COMMITTEE. ^r-- 

.1. P. McCASKEY, Chrmn., M. J. BRECHT, Secy., M. G. BRUMBAUGH, GEO. JI. PHILIPS, H. W. FISHER. 

For Volume or Portrait, address J. P. McCaskej, Lancaster, Pa. 



CONTENTS. 

Biographical Sketch of Dr. E. E. Higbee, Geo. F. Mull. 5 

Funeral Sermon at Lancaster Thos. G. Apple. 17 

"As Seeing Him who is Invisible," E. V. Gerhart. 11 

Educational Inspiration to Millions Benj. Bailsman. 23 

Funeral Service at Emmitsburg John M. Titzel. 26 

In Simplicity of Truth Mary Martin. 26 

Memorial Session of Pennsylvania State Teachers' Association 26 

Memorial Address by the State Superintendent D.J. Waller, Jr. 27 

Memorial Tributes by other Members of the Association, 29 

Memorial Address before National Educational Council N. C. Schaeffer. 35 

Memorial Tributes by other Members of Council 38 

Memorial Sermon at Harrisburg E. M. Kremer. 39 

Presence of an All-pervading Beauty R. M. Streeter. 41 

His Thought into their Thinking, T. M. Balliet. 42 

Every Kind of Out-door Sport, J. T. Matter. 43 

The Very Best All-round Scholar in the State Henry M. Hoyt. 44 

A Prince Has Fallen in Israel, J, P. McCaskey. 44 

The Brotherhood of Genius, Herman Strecker. 46 

There Are Those who Love Learning A. B. Sharpe. 47 

He Spoke of Late as Never Before Geo. M. Philips. 48 

His Good Work for Arbor Day B. G. Northrop. 49 

The Brightest and Sunniest Face M. A. Newell. 49 

Grand Work at Mercersburg J. B, Kerschner. 49 

Golden "Whatevers" of St. Paul H. S. Jones. 52 

Incident at National Convention at Washington G. W. Phillips. 52 

Revision of Reformed Church Hymn-book L. H. Steiner. 53 

Our Arbor-day Superintendent J. P. McCaskey. 54 

Among the Classic Poets, Wm. M. Nevin. 56 

An Enthusiastic Educator E. T. Jeffers. 56 

His First School in Vermont R. H. Howard. 56 

Man, Educator, Pastor, Preacher '. S. L. Whitmore. 58 

A Lover of Christmas J. P. McCaskey. 61 

A Woman's Earnest Tribute L. E. Patridge. 62 

Infused his Spirit into his Work Edward Brooks. 63 

The Drapery of Mourning John Q. Stewart. 65 

An Awakener of Slumbering Souls J. S. Keijfer. 66 

Dr. Arnold at Rugby : Dr. Higbee at Mercersburg E. Mackey. 68 

Co-Laborers and Companions George S. Jones. 72 

Indomitable Energy and Facility in Dispatch of Busing A. J. Davis. 73 

"Glad that We Have Met Him," C. A. Babcock. 74 

Along with Thousands of Others, . . L. E. McGinnes. 74 

To the Sacrifice of His Life A. G. C. Smith. 75 

Best Interests of the Children R. M. McNeal. 76 

Masterful and Pervasive Spirit T. B. Stockwell. 77 

The Crusade of Slander Joseph Pomeroy. 78 

Man of Mark Wherever He Appeared Geo. J. Lackey. 79 

Interest in Normal Schools Theo. B. Noss. 79 

Affable, Sympathetic, and Kindly A. S. Draper. 79 

Memorial Service at Mercersburg 80 

As Falls the Mighty Oak, E. U. Aumiller. 82 

Made Better by this Man's Word C. B. Miller. 82 

Perennial Spring of Humanity C. E. Haupt. 83 

Some Personal Reminiscences, Jacob Heyscr. 83 

Benefit to the School System, David B. Gildea. 85 

Memorial Tribute of Lancaster Schml Bnird J. P. Wickersham. 86 

Closer Supervision of Schools, H. C. Hickok. S7 

Heart and Head and Hand, J G. Becht. 88 

Great and Shining Light Wm. T.Harris. 89 

Sterling Character and Moral Worth Samuel Hamilton. 89 



iv CONTENTS. 

His Interest in Tree-Planting S, Transmit. 90 

Silent Awe and Submission M. F. Cass. 91 

Soldiers' Orphans Commission /as. A. Beaver. 91 

Great Work for the Schools of the Commonwealth /as. M. Coughlin. 92 

First Skates, Jack-knife, Homer, etc /no. W.Apple. 93 

Childhood and College Days C. C. Torrey. 94 

His Work Does not Die with Him . . . W. E. Bloom. 95 

Able Official and Loving Friend H. M. Putnam. 96 

Manhood, the One Immortal Thing M. /. Brecht. 96 

"What Was His Method?" Geo. F. Mull. 98 

His Manner in the Department of Public Instruction A. D. Glenn. 97 

Last Day of Conscious Life N. C. Schaeffer. 99 

High Office of State Superintendent J. P. McCaskey. 100 

Preacher of Christianity E. M. Kremer. 100 

Jesus, O'er the Grave Victorious {Hymn, with Music) E. E. Higbee. 102 

" The Water into Wine," {Hymn, with Music) E. E. Higbee. 103 

Intermortuus : Well-nigh Fatal Illness G. W. Aughenb'augh. 104 

Reminiscences of a Year in the Lancaster High School (1881) J. P. McCaskey. 105 

Thirtieth Year and Third Editor of The Pennsylvania School Journal (1881) " 106 

Four Years After: On Reappointment (1S85) " 108 

Thankful to Have Known Him S. N. Callender. 112 

Hosts of Friends were Outraged • . . . . J. P. McCaskey. 113 

Reminiscence of the Gettysburg Campaign W.S.Alexander. 115 

Especial Fitness for the Office John Stewart. 116 

Memorial Day at Lancaster J. Max Hark. 116 

Brief Extracts from Letters of Friends 118 

" Auf Wiedersehen !" Henry Houck. 120 

Suggestive Thoughts in Prose and Verse from Dr. E E. Higbee : Address Before an Institute, 
121; Responsibility of the Teacher, 123; The Road to Learning, 122; Study of English 
Literature, 125; The Seeing Eye, 125. Poems: To My Dear, Dear Friend, 130; Oh, 
Shepherd, Guide Me, 132; When We Twa'll Meet Again, 132; The Stars, 133; Idyl to 
Spring, 138 ; Ode to Spring, 138 ; Ode to the Owl, 139; Ode to the Partridge, 139; Ode to 
a Sparrow, 139; Ode to a Cricket, 140; Christus Consolator, 140; On His Fiftieth Birth- 
day, 140. 

Arbor Day with the Children : Address at Lancaster E. E. Higbee. 126 

" Forsan et Haec Olim Meminisse Juvabit," [Poem) " " 132 

" Blandina Sleeps in God," {Poem) " " 134 

Centennial Poem, (July 4, 1876) " " 136 

A Beautiful Memorial J. S. Kieffer. 141 

Love Builds this Monument • J. P. McCaskey. 142 

On the Fount of Life Eternal Ger?nan Choral. 144 

Modern in Contrast with Older Methods of Education, 145 ; Vacation, 147 ; Our Educational 
Work, 148 ; A Walk Through a Library, No. V., 149 ; Examinations, 150 ; Office of Music in 
the School and in the Family, 151; The Practical Element, 153; Lower and Higher 
Schools, 153; Our School Directors, 154; Education of the Children, 154; Closer Super- 
vision, 155 ; Arbor Day, 156 ; Children not in the Schools, 157 ; A Word to Teachers, 157 ; 

Extracts from Private Letters, 159 E. E. Higbee. 145 

Great Seal of the Commonwealth Jas. A.Beaver. 161 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 



ELNATHAN ELISHA HIGBEE, D. D., 
LL. D., late State Superintendent of 
Public Instruction of Pennsylvania, was born 
at St. George, near Burlington, Vermont, 
March 27, 1830. He was the youngest mem- 
ber of the family which consisted of ten chil- 
dren, eight sons and two daughters. His 
parents were Lewis Higbeeand Sarah Baker. 
His mother came from a noble stock, was a 
woman of surpassing loveliness of disposition 
and character, gentle and amiable to a fault, 
if this may ever be said of qualities so ad- 
mirable. She had the rare gift of holding 
easily her rightful supremacy in her houseful 
of boys by the persuasiveness of the quiet 
and gentle dignity of manner which was 
her settled habit, and she so commended 
herself to the love and devotion of her chil- 
dren that she was ever afterwards the object 
of their sincerest veneration. The subject 
of this sketch frequently referred to her in 
terms of the tenderest affection, extolling 
her many virtues and traits of excellence 
that constitute the chief glory of woman- 
hood and motherhood. It was through her 
that he used to take a passing pride in trac- 
ing his relationship with Ethan Allen, the 
hero of Ticonderoga and Crown Point. 

His father was a fair representative of the 
sturdy New England type of manhood, pos- 
sessed of great natural strength of character 
and forceful mental endowments, with keen 
powers of penetration into the springs of 
action and motives of men, a fearless up- 
holder of the right of which he had an intu- 
itive sense and for which he would stand up 
to the last. His was a rugged character of 
the earlier days, and yet he was not without 
a becoming appreciation of the amenities of 
life. He was fond of good literature, espe- 
cially of the forensic style, and used to take 
great pleasure in reproducing portions of 
the speeches he had heard and read, which 
he did with more than ordinary dramatic 
effect. He also had a rich vein of humor 
which was ever flashing into forms of quick- 
witted speech. He was withal of an impul- 
sive, generous disposition, that showed itself 
in many an act of disinterested kindness. 

He was not without honor among his own 
people, for they elected him to represent 
them in the Legislature of the State, where 
he vigorously defended the agricultural in- 



terests of his constituents and the entire 
Commonwealth against the unjust measures 
of burdensome taxation and repression with 
which they were then threatened. On one 
occasion, when this subject was under con- 
sideration, he broke out as follows : " There 
are, Mr. Chairman, some members of this 
body who seem to think that farmers are 
horses, and lawyers knights born with spurs 
on their heels, and commissioned by the 
powers above to ride the farmers to death." 
A man that could make that sentence, we 
may well believe, could make a vigorous and 
telling speech. 

Thus much of the father — and we wish it 
might be more — seems to be appropriately 
introduced here as throwing light upon the 
noble qualities of mind and heart which 
distinguished, in so marked a degree, his last- 
born son, in whom these and other inherited 
endowments blossomed into such glorious 
fruition under the genial influence of the 
educational advantages he enjoyed and the 
ever-broadening culture that comes from 
patient, painstaking, reverent study. 

Of his earliest years but little is known. 
When he was eight years of age the old 
homestead was burned to the ground during 
the night. Elnathan was tossed from an 
upstairs window of the burning building 
upon a feather-bed below. This dreadful 
experience left an abiding impression upon 
him, for he frequently referred to it in after- 
life, and no doubt a great change was thus 
suddenly and rudely wrought in the settled 
home-life of the family. Just when his for- 
mal education began is not known, but we 
may be well assured that one who in child- 
hood could be pronounced, by one who 
knew him, a marvel among his kind, would 
at a very early age be found in the district 
school-room. Nearly all we know definitely 
is that "when a little urchin, he knocked at 
the old Polebrook school-house with his 
father's stove-pipe hat on, and claimed ad- 
mittance." His keen power of observation 
and spirit of inquiry, as well as his love of 
fun, may be traced in the recorded fact, 
that as a child he would pick up toads and 
other reptiles, and put them into his bosom 
for his own amusement and to startle others. 
He was evidently a boy, in the full sense of 
that term — strong and active, with a clear 



DR. E. E. HIGBEE: IN LOVING REMEMBRANCE. 



brain, no special inclination for farm work, 
and a leader in the sports of the day. Full 
of mischief, but without a sign of malice, 
honorable to a nicety, he seems to have been 
a fitting object of the love and admiration of 
his daily companions. 

"Booted all up," says one of these, "he 
was a boy to love, to follow, and never to 
fall out with." The same writer continues : 
"Older boys and girls acknowledged his in- 
tellectual worth among them. To but be- 
hold with a single sweeping glance was to 
know the entire situation in the old school- 
room. With but little study, perception 
grasped the whole theory of the work to be 
done. He was never fretful, never ill-nat- 
ured. Though constantly with him, I do 
not remember a cross word passing between 
us, unless it came from me. " As an evidence 
of his ability to take care of himself and 
stand up resolutely for the right as boys un- 
derstand it, the following incident is related 
by one of his brothers in a recent letter: 

His mother sent him to Winooska Falls to 
get some molasses in a tin bucket. After a 
considerable while he returned, with the 
bucket empty and big tears streaming down 
his cheeks. The only explanation appar- 
ently vouchsafed for this untoward circum- 
stance was lodged in his exclamation, "I 
will give those boys the worst whipping they 
ever had " — and sure enough, the first op- 
portunity that presented itself for the execu- 
tion of his purpose, he carried out his intent 
with such ferocity and success that all street- 
boys looked upon him with respectful appre- 
ciation ever after. 

His magnanimity in all youthful encoun- 
ters was generally recognized, and instances 
could be multiplied in which he yielded a 
point of advantage for the encouragement 
of his adversary. He knew his own strength 
and also the weakness of others, and he 
never presumed upon either for the purpose 
of self-interest. The very worst that one of 
his daily companions can say of him in these 
childhood days, is his stubborn resistance to 
the rod of correction. "He would take a 
whipping with perfect submission, — and no 
outcry; but to be conquered by such means, 
never." These few incidents, though they 
may appear trivial in themselves, are not 
unimportant, as reflecting the firm and solid 
stuff that entered into the make-up of his 
natural being. The basic metal had the 
true ring, and failed not to give out clear, 
clarion notes to the end of his life. 

His preparatory studies must have been 
prosecuted with vigor, for at the age of fif- 
teen we find him admitted into the Fresh- 



man class of the Univerity of Vermont. It 
would be interesting, were it at all possible, 
to have a detailed account of his career as a 
member of this venerable and justly cele- 
brated institution of sound and liberal 
learning; for, from the scattered allusions 
that have come to our notice, we have been 
able to gather enough to warrant the infer- 
ence that he was a leader among his fellows, 
conspicuous no less for the brilliancy of his 
intellectual achievements than for his mar- 
vellous feats of strength and agility in the 
various athletic sports current in his day. 

He was especially strong in the depart- 
ments of mathematics, the classical lan- 
guages and related studies, and of English 
literature. He was an omnivorous reader, 
with an intuitive power of discrimination 
and susceptibility for the true, the good, and 
the beautiful as scattered throughout the vast 
domain of our glorious heritage in the world 
of polite letters. 

He revelled in the delights afforded by the 
noble collection of books stored in the Uni- 
versity Library, whose most unfrequented 
nooks he diligently explored, mousing into 
and through musty "volumes of forgotten 
lore," and enriching his mind with the 
treasures of poetic thought and chaste ex- 
pression which entered so largely and so nat- 
urally into the splendid mental and spiritual 
equipment he was acquiring, and which 
proved an inexhaustible source of perennial 
freshness and ever-multiplying power in his 
subsequent career as a thinker, a writer, and 
a speaker of extraordinary ability. 

He often spoke of the severe mathemati- 
cal training he there received, the rigid 
discipline of his Latin and Greek studies as 
there enforced, and his introduction under 
competent guidance into the domain of 
speculative thinking and philosophical meth- 
ods of investigation, as leading factors in the 
educational advantages he enjoyed ; but he 
never ceased to "thank his stars" for the 
influences that worked together for his 
greatest intellectual good, in sending him 
with hurrying feet to the Library as the 
storehouse of the accumulated wisdom of 
the ages, there to imbibe the all-pervasive 
spirit of general humanity as it is ever crys- 
tallizing itself in the manifold forms of 
written speech. 

To indicate still further the importance 
he attached to the Library as a means of 
education, and his deep sense of obligation 
in view of the lasting benefits derived there- 
from, we may be permitted to cite the testi- 
mony of another writer, conveyed in the 
following language: "Dr. Higbee was a 



LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT. 



very brilliant man— a man of great breadth 
and universality of attainments. And often, 
during the past thirty years, and even so 
late as the week before his untimely death, 
he told the writer that for what he had been 
able to accomplish in life he was as much 
indebted to the privilege of using the library 
of the University of Vermont, as he was to 
the instruction he received from the profes- 
sors of that institution. We all know that 
we had few scholars in our midst like Dr. 
Higbee." Here he acquired that remark- 
able " habit of swift and discriminating 
reading, until he had amongst books, as Prof. 
Winsor (in a different connection) expresses 
it, 'the instinct that serves the red man 
when he knows the north by the thickness 
of the moss on the tree-boles.' " 

He often spoke, in terms of fond recol- 
lection, of the delightful association he had 
with congenial spirits under the aegis of the 
"Owl Society," the chief object of which 
seems to have been the cultivation of pure 
literary taste. Thus the old dramatists and 
play-wrights were critically studied, read 
aloud, and at times reproduced in the way 
of appropriate rendition and impersonation. 
But the gifted members of this fraternity 
went a step further in their pursuit of belle- 
tristic attainments, and vied with each other 
in the production of original literary com- 
positions, including the high art of poesy, 
and venturing even upon the construction 
of elaborate plays according to the type set 
for all time by ancient Greece, but, we may 
safelv believe, "all racy of the soil and 
redolent of the wild woods and the mount- 
ains" and the general atmosphere that per- 
vaded the ever-varying conditions of stu- 
dent-life in that earlier day. The following 
pages of this volume will serve to reveal, 
although inadequately, the fruitfulness of 
such exercises in the case of, at least, one of 
the old "'Varsity Owls." 

We have said that he excelled in mathe- 
matics. In this connection it is interesting 
to recall the following incident. When he 
first began the study of algebra it seems that 
he could not see through it, and was unable 
to get along with the new work to his satis- 
faction. So he applied to his father for 
permission to stop the study. "What is 
algebra?" inquired the father. Elnathan 
told him as well as he could, whereupon he 
was asked, "Can the other boys get it?" 
"Yes, they seem to be able to do it, at 
least better than I can." " Then," said the 
father, with an emphasis peculiar to himself 
and unmistakable in its meaning, "You'll 
keep on at it, and get it too." And he did 



get it, as all know who ever witnessed the 
facility, yea the lightning like rapidity, with 
which he employed the media of this branch 
of analysis in the solution of the most intri- 
cate problems. He used to tell of how, one 
day on the playground, the meaning and use 
of algebra came to him like a flash of light, 
so that he never after had trouble with it. 

In college, we find him, on the other 
hand, approaching Prof. Torrey with the 
question, whether he might not give up one 
or two of the other branches, for which he 
had no liking, in order to devote himself 
more assiduously to thestudy of mathematics, 
in which department he was no doubt be- 
ginning to feel the swellings of native power. 
Thus quite unconsciously the present burn- 
ing question of " electives" and " specials," 
as known in College circles, was anticipa- 
ted, and we wish we might be able to repro- 
duce here, more in detail, the conversation 
that passed between the young student and 
his professor. The best we can do, how- 
ever, is to recall the substance of Prof. Tor- 
rey's advice, which is quite as applicable to 
similar conditions at the present day as it 
was forty- three years ago ; in substance he 
said : " The fact that you seem to have no 
special aptitude for the branches you name, 
is the very best of reasons why you should 
apply yourself most diligently to the mas- 
tery of the truths they contain, for you need 
them most ; the mathematics, for which you 
have special talent, will for that reason re- 
quire no special effort on your part, but may 
be trusted to take care of itself in the ordi- 
nary course of your studies. ' ' The wisdom of 
this counsel was not lost upon the young in- 
quirer at the time, and in after years was 
gratefully acknowledged as fully justified by 
his own maturer experience. He used to 
speak of this as "the best advice" he had 
received while a student at college. 

During his college course, at the early age 
of sixteen he became the teacher of the 
" Fourth Street" district school of Burling- 
ton, and began that career which, as it 
turned out, was to be the channel for the 
exercise of what was probably the most far- 
reaching and effective usefulness of his sub- 
sequent life. Elsewhere in this volume, an 
old pupil in this, his first school, Rev. R. H. 
Howard, A. M., writes in a tone of sympa- 
thetic appreciation of his youthful master, 
who already at that time was singularly suc- 
cessful in making deep and lasting impress- 
ions for good upon those who were brought 
under his influence. From this same source 
the reader may gain some idea also of the 
amazing physical resources of Mr. Higbee, 



DR. E. E. BIG BEE: IN LOVING REMEMBRANCE. 



as these were called into play by the part he 
took in the athletic sports of the day, in 
which, by general consent, he was facile prin- 
ceps among his fellows, — a by no means un- 
important factor in making an estimate of 
the all round manhood and manliness of one 
whose impressive personality was an inspira- 
tion to many thousands of susceptible souls 
with whom he came in contact and who now 
fondly cherish his memory. It only remains 
for us to say, therefore, that in this respect 
he enriched the traditions of his Alma Mater 
by his exploits of physical skill and dexter- 
ity, in such a signal way as to associate his 
name forever with the most attractive remi- 
niscences of college days. 

The following extracts from a letter, 
written January 10, 1849, ma y appropri- 
ately be introduced here as showing the 
serious thoughtfulness of his nature, even 
before the age of nineteen. 

The evenings are all I have to myself, and these 
hardly, for during the day I am surrounded by quite 
a brood of urchins, whose wants I am bounden to 
satisfy, and in most evenings— this an exception — I 
am welcomed with the wild chorus of crying infants, 
" a universal hubbub of stunning sounds." 

But thanks to the flying hours, my task is growing 
short,— yet at times it is a pleasant task— to watch 
and see the infant mind struggling from darkness up 
to light, to see the eye sparkle and the whole face 
blaze forth the soul within which is awakened into 
joyful action by some new fancy or thought. Then 
the spirit seems to know itself, and from this intelli- 
gence receive a new impulse — new life — new joy. 
Why may not this be one reason for the happiness of 
the just soul after death ? For then the spirit will 
know itself thoroughly, be convicted wholly of its im- 
mortality and dignity; and if the imperfect conviction 
of this upon earth be capable of creating joy, why 
may the perfect conviction of it hereafter not increase 
this to an infinite degree ? Do you not see I am get- 
ting to be somewhat of a philosopher? And why 
not ? Our class are now upon this study, and I as- 
sure you it is a noble study. It seems as if I had 
learned more essential knowledge since I commenced 
this branch, than I ever have before; this, however 
may be but the " zeal of a new convert." * * 

Although, as I have said, I am closely engaged in 
philosophical studies, yet I do not neglect all others. 
All the powers of the mind must be brought into 
action in order to its vigorous growth. One must 
have a delicate sensibility and a vivid fancy, as well 
as deep and profound thoughtfulness. For this pur- 
pose I sometimes, though with great trepidation 
creep along the foot of high Parnassus, and when 
not too much fatigued, endeavor to discover some easy 
green path leading to higher regions; but, alas forme ! 
there is all around an impervious, vet beautiful forest. 
I shall soon graduate— soon leap, as they say, from 
the arms of my Alma Mater down the deep precipice 
into the wild, busy scenes of actual life. Then, T 
suppose, with the clear vision of man, I shall behold 
the path of duly before me. But in what profession 
shall I act? This question, even to this late day re- 
mains unanswered. But before I enter upon a pro- 
fession at all, I should like to teach, and that very 
soon after Commencement. 



His collegiate course terminated in regu- 
lar and honorable graduation, with the class 
of 1849. The subject of his "graduating 
piece," as he himself calls it, was the "Re- 
lation of the Ideal to the Actual." From 
the following rough draft of a letter, written 
by him August 17, 1849, we may learn 
something of the nature of its treatment, by 
the faint but sufficiently suggestive allusions 
he makes thereto j the letter, is important 
also as indicating the great and radical 
change he was undergoing in mind and 
heart, and looking to the turning point in 
his whole career which came a few years 
later in the satisfactory solution of the 
problem of life for himself and his future 
work; hence we quote the letter, which was 
no doubt more fully expanded for the re- 
cipient, almost entire: 

I am a thousand times obliged to you for sending 
me Mr. Nevin's (Dr. John W.|Nevin's) profound 
sermon, for it has taught me at least one good prac- 
tical lesson — that men are prone to believe that they 
possess knowledge, when in fact they know nothing. 
I took the sermon, as I usually take a book, at a 
leisure moment, and began to calculate that I should 
have some thirty or more minutes of amusement; 
but, lo, ere I had finished the first page, I found my- 
self in a new region entirely— a region where I found 
something more was necessary than to barely apply 
the knowledge I had learned by merely imitating 
my teachers. I saw the necessity for some activity 
of my own, and for the first time did I come to know 
what was meant by the creative energy of thought. 
Here I saw that when my mind was passive only, 
the book was but a meaningless blank, but as soon as 
by reflection I began to think, the page became one 
mass of thought. The mist passed away, and truth 
like a star began to tremble in the clear— not a calm 
and steady light, for it was too distant for my young- 
and feeble sight. 

The division of the church first made, into " ideal 
and actual," and the argument thereon, would have 
made me feel more positive in the position I took in 
my graduating piece; for I blindly hit upon nearly 
the same train of thought. I attempted to show that 
in nature there are two characteristics, the informing 
principle, which is the idea, and the existent form, 
which is the actual phenomenon. This idea I at- 
tempted to show is concrete, containing the essence, 
means and end, but must of necessity be nothing 
unless in living union with the form, which union is 
essentially necessary to a production of life. As 
Nevin says, in one of his works, " not soul or body , 
but soul and body, is the formula which represents 
humanity." 

His connection with the University did 
not cease with his graduation, for besides 
maintaining at more or less distant intervals 
a correspondence with several of his old 
professors upon abstruse questions, involv- 
ing learned disputations, he was invited, 
"by a unanimous vote of the faculty" in 
the language of President Smith, to deliver 
a Master's Oration at the commencement of 
1852; in 1857, he responded to an invitation 



SOLEMN DECISION TO PREACH THE GOSPEL. 



of the Literary Societies in joint meeting 
assembled, " to serve as poet for their an- 
nual celebration;" and at another time he de- 
livered a poem upon some "high festal" oc- 
casion in the history of the Owl Society. 
The Master's Oration, above referred to, 
was entitled, "Thesis Theologica — scripta 
dictu in U. V. M. — Relation of the Church 
to the Incarnation in the Creed" — a very 
scholary disquisition, showing already, at 
this early age, the wide range of his acquain- 
tance with the ponderous tomes of patristic 
literature, the records of the old Church 
councils, and the domain of more recent 
theological learning. 

His first employment, after graduating, 
was as assistant teacher in an academy at 
South Woodstock, Vt. Here he taught 
daily from eight a. m. till twelve, and from 
one p. m. till five, "continually busy," as 
he writes, "with no time to improve my 
own mind or health." He had classes in 
the higher mathematics, the ancient classics, 
and philosophy. On account of the great 
amount of labor that fell to his hands, and 
conscious that he was injuring his health 
without any advantage to himself apart from 
the very small pecuniary gain, he found the 
position unpleasant, and contentedly awaited 
any opportunity that might occur for the 
betterment of his condition. Such oppor- 
tunity soon presented itself, and at the ter- 
mination of his engagement here in Novem- 
ber, 1849, ne removed to Emmitsburg, Md., 
induced thereto mainly through the influ- 
ence of his now sainted sister. The immedi- 
ate object of this step was to take charge of 
the mathematical and classical departments 
of a select school which his brother-in-law, 
Rev. Geo. W. Aughinbaugh, had organized 
in that place. 

He was then reading law and fully deter- 
mined, at no distant day, to return to his 
native State, and qualify himself for the 
legal profession. He once humorously ac- 
counted for his coming to Emmitsburg by 
recalling the familiar anecdote related of 
John C. Calhoun and Daniel Webster. 
These statesmen were standing in front of 
the capitol at Washington, when a drove of 
mules was going by. "Look, Dan," said 
Calhoun, " there go some of your constitu- 
ents." "Yes," Webster replied, " they are 
going South to teach school." Then with 
a merry twinkle in his eye he added, "Tve 
come South to teach school." How many 
of his pupils have lived to see the day when 
they devoutly blessed the good fortune that 
permitted them to share in the benefits of 
his "coming South." 



Of this period Dr. Aughinbaugh writes as 
follows in the Memorial Number of The 
Pennsylvania School Journal : 

Dr. Higbee was an earnest student all the time he 
was under the writer's roof. During the first winter 
he spent in Emmitsburg, though only in his twentieth 
year, he entered into correspondence with the pro- 
fessor of languages in the University of Vermont — a 
correspondence that assumed in the end a contro- 
versial turn — touching the correct translation of a 
difficult Greek passage. He also discovered a new 
method of solving a difficult problem in mathematics, 
which he submitted to the criticism of the professor 
of mathematics in the University, who, as I remember, 
pronounced it correct in every particular. 

Though born on New England soil, and brought' 
up under New England influence, Dr. Higbee, when 
he came to Emmitsburg, was not wholly ignorant of 
German thought. The President of the University of 
Vermont was a great admirer of Dr. Rauch, the first 
President of Marshall College at Mercersburg, Pa., 
and, if my memory is not at fault, introduced Rauch's 
Psychology as a text- book. 

But be this as it may, Dr. Higbee was prepared to 
grapple with the new order of philosophical and 
theological thought that challenged him in his new 
environment. In the controversy then going on in 
the German Reformed Church, he became deeply in- 
terested. He read, I may say devoured, the articles 
of Nevin and Schaff as they appeared from time to 
time in the Mercersburg Review. Often did we sit 
up until a late hour of the night, discussing philo- 
sophical and theological subjects. At length con- 
vinced that man can reach the true idea of his being 
only in Christ, he resolved to connect himself with 
the Church. The writer baptized and confirmed him. 
Soon after his confirmation he found himself con- 
fronted by this question: If Christ be the Fulfilment 
of Prophecy, and the only Mediator between God 
and man, is it not my duty to consecrate myself 
wholly to the work for which He bled, died and 
triumphed ? 

The decision of this question was soon reached, as 
expressed in his own solemn declaration: "Others 
may enter the legal profession, but I will preach the 
gospel." This is what his sister desired, and what 
she and other members of the church at Emmitsburg 
earnestly labored and prayed for." 

In 1850, he accepted the position as pri- 
vate tutor in the family of Hon. Joshua 
Motter, of Emmitsburg, among whose 
daughters he found his wife, the faithful, life- 
long partner of his joys and sorrows. This 
position he held for one year. The serious 
earnestness with which he prosecuted his 
labors here, as teacher of a very small band 
of pupils, is especially evinced by his lectures 
on the Science of Logic, and the Fine Arts, 
which were prepared with the same pains- 
taking care that characterizes his later pre- 
pared lectures on Church History, Ethics, 
and /Esthetics. 

From the first his love for Emmitsburg 
took firm root, and became deeper and more 
abiding as the years went by. The above 
intimations afford some reason for the 
profound attachment he formed for this, 



DR. E. E. IlfG BEE: IN LOVING REMEMBRANCE. 



his "dear mountain home," as he loved 
to call it. It was here too, during the winter 
of 1850-51, that he was brought so nigh 
unto death by an attack of typhoid fever 
of a most malignant type, that the phy- 
sicians could no longer count the- flurried 
pulse beats, gave up all hope, and gravely 
declared, " It is only a question of a few 
hours' time with the poor fellow." He re- 
ceived the tenderest, kindliest nursing from 
loving friends, which could not help but 
form, as it did, the most sacred attachments. 
By a kind Providence his life was spared, 
and in the latter part of February he was 
able to venture out of the house " only the 
shadow of his former self, weighing between 
eighty and ninety pounds." — {Vide " Inter- 
mortuus," elsewhere in this volume.) 

In view of all this, and much more that is 
revealed between the lines, is it any wonder 
that Dr. Higbee himself, writing to Emmits- 
burg, from Burlington, in August, 1851, 
should make the following confession ? 
"As I gaze upon the grand scenes, the lofty 
mountains rising up in the east, and the 
glorious lake spread out before me, dotted 
with its islands of green and its thousand 
white sails, my fatherland grows dearer and 
dearer to me; but my adopted Maryland 
brings recollections dearer than those that 
nature can. There first the spiritual world 
with its more than earthly loveliness was be- 
held by me. There Christ, my only choice, 
first received me as his, and filled my soul 
with his truth and love. There also, I al- 
most bade farewell to earth, and yet lived 
by the prayers and kindness of those I never 
can forget. My home is with you, if I have 
a home, and I almost said, my whole heart 
is there also." 

In the latter part of 1851, or early in 1852, 
he entered the Theological Seminary of the 
Reformed church at Mercersburg. Drs. 
Nevin and Schaff were his teachers. Of his 
course here we will not take time to speak, 
save to note the interesting fact that he 
spent considerable time in preparing for 
publication an edition of Pindar in the orig- 
inal. The plan of the work had been care- 
fully mapped out, in consultation with Prof. 
Pease of the University of Vermont, who 
had advised him "to put the Greek on one 
page and an English metrical translation on 
the other, with explanatory notes at the foot 
of the page and critical notes at the end." 
This work, of which some fragments of beau- 
tiful manuscript copy remain to attest the 
seriousness of his purpose, had to be aban- 
doned "because it consumed too much of 
that time which duty required for studies 



more theological." No task was too great 
for his brave undertaking. 

His earlier admiration for Dr. Nevin 
grew into the profoundest veneration by 
personal association and fuller acquaintance. 
Indeed he regarded Dr. Nevin, in certain 
lines of thought, the ablest man in America, 
and with but one man his equal in Germany. 
The following paragraphs were written by 
him upon the death of his old teacher: 

In the recent death of Dr. J. W. Nevin, at his 
home at Caernarvon Place, near Lancaster, at the ad- 
vanced age of eighty years, the world of scholarship 
and ripe Christian thought has lost a noble citizen. 
Though not the best known to its educators, he was 
the greatest teacher of his time in Pennsylvania. He 
was unequalled in his power over the minds of his 
pupils, inspiring in them such a reverence for truth, 
and such an humble attitude to receive it, as to free 
many from all self-conceit, and put them on the way 
of earnest search and prayer. 

While gifted himself with intellectual powers only 
granted to a chosen few, yet in his humility he urged 
his pupils to yield their minds to Truth as something 
broader and more glorious than aught that he or the 
most learned had attained ; and guarded them most 
zealously from the abomination of intellectual slavery. 

In no scholar of our acquaintance have we seen the 
language of our Saviour more fully verified, "Judge 
not according to the appearance, but judge righteous 
judgment." And in no educator of the present age 
have we seen such a reverent acknowledgment of the 
aim of all thought life, as given by the greatest teacher 
of man, " To this end was I born, and for this cause 
came I into the world, that I should bear witness 
unto the truth." 

The same all-absorbing love of the truth 
and comprehensive grasp of its wide-reach- 
ing scope, was the inspiration of Dr. Hig- 
bee's own interior thought-power, and his 
own words, as above quoted, might be most 
fittingly applied to himself. 

After completing his Seminary course, in 
order to replenish his exhausted exchequer, 
he accepted the professorship of mathemat- 
ics in the High School at Lancaster, Pa. 
Here he remained one year, making life- 
long friends of some of his pupils, in the 
heart of one of whom was laid the founda- 
tion of that enduring friendship which was 
such a solace to him in later years, when as 
State Superintendent he found in the Prin- 
cipal of the Lancaster High School — one of 
his old boys — the central figure in the inner 
circle of his chosen friends. 

In 1854 he was licensed to preach the 
gospel by the Maryland Classis of the Re- 
formed Church. The supply of ministers 
in this Church, at that period of its history 
was greater than the demand. After wait- 
ing, therefore, several months in vain for a 
field of labor in the South, the young 
licentiate, stirred with zeal for the cause he 
had so warmly espoused with the full conse- 



PERIOD OF INTENSE INTELLECTUAL ACTIVITY. 



cration of all his powers thereto, accepted a 
call to the Congregational church at Bethel, 
Vt. He found Bethel a pleasant and favora- 
ble place as a pastoral field, and he had ample 
opportunity for the prosecution of his theo- 
logical studies. His sermons were carefully 
and designedly constructed upon the lines of 
the Heidelberg Catechism. But the coldness 
of the Congregational system chilled him, 
and in one of his letters he exclaims, " How 
much I do wish that I had a situation of the 
kind in our Church nearer home ; but I 
ought not to murmur, if God sees fit that I 
should preach here for the present." 

In 1856 he was married and began the 
establishment of his own family life, in the 
bosom of which his deepest affections ex- 
pended themselves so freely, so generously, 
and so unselfishly. But he never felt at home 
in the theological and ecclesiastical atmo- 
sphere with which he was surrounded, and in 

1858 he returned to the South, with an 
honorable dismission to the church of his 
first love. For a time he served the 
Emmitsburg charge as "supply," and in 

1859 was summoned to the pastorate of the 
First Reformed church of Tiffin, Ohio. 
While here he also filled the chair of Latin 
and Greek in Heidelberg College, and made 
a marked impression, in the midst of many 
discouragements, upon the character of that 
institution. It was at Tiffin that Dr. Hig- 
bee's father, now an old man and very 
feeble, first heard his son preach. Upon 
returning to the house, he expressed the 
pleasure he had had, by exclaiming in sub- 
dued tones with tears coursing their way 
down his cheeks, "Well, I have heard 
Elnathan preach, and now I am satisfied. 
He knows how to do it." 

In 1862 he removed to Pittsburgh and be- 
came pastor of Grace church. His labors 
were arduous and his trials distracting ; his 
health, too, was the cause of great anxiety 
on the part of his friends. In February, 
1864, he writes: " The care of a church is 
very serious and severe. It takes the very 
life from me at times. I have hardly slept 
a night this week, and my poor head is com- 
pletely shattered to-night with pain. But I 
do not wish to complain. Should any 
opening offer itself, whereby I can be re- 
leased from a parish for a few years and 
serve the Church in another capacity, I 
shall accept it as a call from God." 

As if in answer to his desire thus privately 
expressed, only a month later he received 
the notification of his unanimous election, 
by the Board of Visitors of the Theological 
Seminary of the Reformed Church, located 



at Mercersburg, Pa., to the professorship of 
Church History and New Testament Exe- 
gesis, made vacant by the temporary release 
of Dr. Philip Schaff from the incumbency 
of the chair for the purpose of spending sev- 
eral years of travel and study in Europe. 
Rev. Dr. S. R. Fisher accompanied the offi- 
cial communication of this action of the 
Board with a strong personal appeal, urging 
upon Dr. Higbee the acceptance of the post 
thus tendered him, saying among other 
things, "This much we know, that no ap- 
pointment which could have been made 
would have been so acceptable in the Sem- 
inary to the students as yours, * * * a cir- 
cumstance which had its influence with the 
members of the Board." Dr. Harbaugh, 
one of the Professors in the Seminary, also 
wrote in a most pressing and kindly man- 
ner, begging him to accept the call, making 
special reference, like Dr. Fisher, to the 
high gratification prevailing among the stu- 
dents over the action of the Board. Still 
he did not hastily reach a decision, as is 
disclosed by letters written during this per- 
iod, but only after the most earnest and 
prayerful consideration. He finally deter- 
mined to accept the position as a call from 
God to a sphere of illimitable possibilities 
for usefulness in the Church. At the open- 
ing of the ensuing session, May 3, 1864, at 
the age of thirty-four, we find him at his 
new post of duty. In October of the fol- 
lowing year, he was relieved of all anxiety 
growing out of the temporary character of 
his position, by being permanently elected 
thereto — sufficient evidence of the satisfac- 
tory performance of the duties of his office. 
A fair estimate of his labors at Mercers- 
burg and the fruits thereof, may be derived 
from a number of discriminating and appre- 
ciative articles in the following pages of this 
volume — notably those of Prof. Kerschner, 
Supt. Mackey, Rev. E. N. Kremer, Dr. N. 
C. Schaeffer, Rev. S. L. Whitmore, and 
perhaps a few others. Indeed, the whole 
period of his activity from this time onward 
is so well covered by the splendid memorial 
tributes which follow, that it only remains 
for us to maintain the consecutive character 
of this narrative by mentioning such dates 
and facts, with a few passing reflections 
thereon, as may seem necessary for our pur- 
pose. 

Dr. Higbee was largely instrumental in 
bringing about the foundation of Mercers- 
burg College, which was accomplished in 
the fall of 1865, with Rev. Dr. Thos. G. 
Apple as its first President, whom he assisted 
! with generous self-forgetfulness in the diffi- 



DR. E. E. NIG BEE: IN LOVING REMEMBRANCE. 



cult task of building up a college against the 
most formidable odds of all sorts. Laboring 
thus, in season and out of season, studying, 
teaching, preaching, lecturing, writing arti- 
cles for the Reformed Quarterly Review, of 
which he was co-editor for a season, and for 
the Reformed Messenger, of which he was 
Synodical Editor for a while, and serving 
upon some of the most important commit- 
tees by appointment of the highest judica- 
tory of" the Church — maintaining the most 
intense activity whereby his physical re- 
sources were drained to their utmost capac- 
ity with a sublime disregard of personal ease 
and comfort, a«d his intellectual and spirit- 
ual resources were ever multiplying them- 
selves by use and development into the 
splendid proportions of rare excellence at- 
tained in his later years. 

In 1 87 1 there came a crisis in his life, 
brought on by the consummation of the 
efforts that had been put forth for some time 
to secure the removal of the Theological 
Seminary from Mercersburg to Lancaster. 
Should he stay at his post and by accom- 
panying the Seminary sever his close, though 
as yet unofficial, connection with the young 
and struggling college which lay so near his 
heart, and which was then about to send 
forth its first small class of graduates? To 
understand the terrible ordeal through which 
he passed, requires a knowledge of details 
and circumstances connected with the inner 
history of this whole transaction that cannot 
here be given. We shall, therefore, content 
ourselves with the following citation from a 
letter written June 2, 1871 : 

This Commencement has been the severest trial I 
have yet had in my life. It cost a struggle to follow 
my convictions of duty and resign my position in the 
Seminary. * * But I feel that I have done right, 
although at a great sacrifice. I can accomplish far 
more for the Church here than by going to Lancas- 
ter, and can labor with far more efficiency. I know 
very well that by some I shall be called rebellious, 
and by others impetuous and reckless, and by very 
few shall I be esteemed as one calmly and at per- 
sonal sacrifice following the conviction of duty. * * 
Position often gives influence and secures reputation 
and honor. I am not destitute of ambition. I love 
to be respected by my fellow-laborers in the Church. 
But the sure road to esteem is worth from labor and 
toil. Here I shall labor and study and teach, and 
pay but little heed to what position I occupy. I have 
gone into the college to work, not to seek self-honor. 

Thus he voluntarily relinquished one of 
the most honorable trusts in the gift of the 
Reformed Church, a position congenial to 
his tastes and carrying with it the assurance, 
by constitutional provision, of comfortable 
maintenance to the very end of his life. What 
he exchanged it for is told elsewhere by Prof. 
Kerschner, who justly says : " This exchange 



of positions, viewed from the standpoint of 
ordinary prudence, looked like the sheerest 
folly." Dr. Apple, with whom he expected 
to be happily yoked together in what 
seemed to be the mutually cherished pur- 
pose of pulling the young institution through 
its "schwere anfaenge" (heavy beginnings), 
considered it his duty to resign the Presi- 
dency of Mercersburg College, in order to 
accept a call to the position in the Theo- 
logical Seminary that had been made vacant 
by Dr. Higbee's resignation. This sorely 
complicated matters, adding an entirely un- 
foreseen element to difficulties which many 
already regarded as of an insuperable char- 
acter. It was, then, with the keenest sense 
of the tremendous responsibility he was as- 
suming, that he consented to become the 
successor of Dr. Apple, as President of Mer- 
cersburg College; but it was also with high 
resolve and noble purpose that he entered 
upon the vigorous prosecution of the mani- 
fold and onerous duties of the office, which 
he held from the fall of 1871 to the fall of 
1880, when for lack of funds the institution 
was temporarily closed. 

There are those who will remember the 
last appeal he made upon the floor of the 
synod at Woodstock, Va., in presenting the 
claims of the College upon the continued 
care and support of the Church, couched in 
words eloquent with the soul of sincerity 
and conviction ; and, when some one 
tauntingly said, " But Mercersburg College 
has already failed," how, with inexpressible 
sadness, he exclaimed, " It may prove in 
the end that the Potomac Synod has failed, 
and not Mercersburg College." Certain it 
is, that by a truer standard of measurement, 
Mercersburg College did not fail, in proof 
whereof let the discerning reader of this 
Memorial Volume bear witness. 

"Labor and toil" were surely his; 
"worth" came in their wake; and the 
"sure road to esteem " was steadily length- 
ening out before him. 

Mercersburg College was the darling pro- 
ject of Dr. Higbee's mature manhood, and 
it will readily be conceived that its early 
failure was a severe blow to his high-strung, 
sensitive and intensely serious nature. Some 
of the creditors of the institution now began 
to press their claims more urgently than be- 
fore, and the President, grieving over the 
frustration of fondly cherished hopes, was 
beset with an unusually harassing combina- 
tion of difficulties. If he had been possessed 
of private funds sufficient to meet these 
claims, there is no doubt that he would have 
poured them out like water for the purpose. 



CHIEFEST CONCERN AS STA TE SUPERINTENDENT. 



13 



As it was, although by no means personally 
responsible for the indebtedness incurred by 
direction of the Board of Regents, he volun- 
tarily surrendered the deed of his ownership 
in a piece of land, his sole holding in real 
estate, as an offset to at least one claim 01 
a thousand dollars, although he himself was 
at the time a claimant to the extent of about 
two thousand dollars, on account of salary. 

Greatly perplexed, without any regular 
means of a livelihood, and imagining him- 
self somewhat under a cloud in the esti- 
mation of many of his ministerial brethren, 
he faced the future with little capital besides 
an unfaltering faith in God and a resolute 
determination to follow only the leadings of 
duty. But he lost no time in idle murmur- 
ing and vain repining, and presently day- 
light began to break through the surround- 
ing darkness of his earthly prospects, as the 
inner conviction settled upon him that 
" something was coming." He was not left 
long in doubt, for in the spring of 1881 he 
received from Governor Hoyt the appoint- 
ment of State Superintendent of Public In- 
struction of Pennsylvania. 

It evidently required some courage, es- 
pecially in the way of independence of the 
ordinary influences that are paramount in 
the control of gubernatorial action in such 
matters, on the part of Gov. Hoyt, to make 
this appointment. Dr. Higbee was very 
little known throughout the State; indeed, 
his natural temperament, as well as the close 
confinement of his activity to the pressing 
work with which he had been overwhelmed, 
left him neither time nor inclination to uti- 
lize any of the ordinary means employed 
for gaining popular reputation. His busi- 
ness was to do battle bravely against the 
currents of the world's life, and not to be 
borne comfortably along into places of 
prominence. In a word, his work was for 
eternity, and not for time, and hitherto the 
conditions for its performance had been 
such as to favor his predilection for retire- 
ment and seclusion. 

But he had come in contact with a few 
men of affairs who were in a position to 
command influence, and had left an abiding 
impression upon them. So it happened — 
the present writer is unable to use more de- 
finite language — that his name came before 
Gov. Hoyt, who being himself a man of 
serious nature, studious habits, and fine lit- 
erary accomplishments, could easily enter 
into sympathetic appreciation of Dr. Hig- 
bee's qualifications, and saw no obstacle to 
the propriety of his selection in the compar- 
ative obscurity of his past life. Whatever 



lingering objections there may have been in 
the Governor's mind on this score, or in 
view of Dr. Higbee's own over-modest dis- 
trust of his executive powers, were com- 
pletely dispelled by the effect of a personal 
interview, in reference to which Gov. Hoyt 
has within the past year written : "I have 
often recurred to that interview with Dr. 
Higbee, for it has always afforded me the 
gratification of having made <no mistake' 
in the man." April 1st, 1881, he entered 
upon the duties of his office, as the successor 
of Dr. J. P. Wickersham, who for fifteen 
years had managed its affairs with signal 
ability, and now retired with the proud con- 
sciousness of having achieved a brilliant suc- 
cess by the wise exercise of his pre-eminent 
administrative capacity. 

The new Superintendent, whose course 
was watched with the keenest scrutiny, and, 
in many quarters, with the most serious 
misgivings, not to say with suspicion, very 
soon found his way into the inner heart of 
the school men of the State, and in an 
incredibly short time he enjoyed, in un- 
stinted measure, the confidence of his co- 
laborers — the living forces and factors which 
came under his direction and inspiration, 
and which he ever regarded as of infinitely 
more value than the most ingenious machin- 
ery that might be devised in the interest of 
system and organization. In pleading, as 
he so often did, for the more generous sup- 
port of the schools, with the immediate view 
of inviting and retaining the " very ablest 
teachers," he says: "However complete 
our system may be, and however skillfully 
arranged our appliances and methods, with- 
out the presence of earnest and thoroughly 
qualified living men — without the moulding 
power of their character and lives upon our 
children — soul speaking to soul — deep an- 
swering to deep — with a voice infinitely 
more profound and mightier than any writ- 
ten book — the work must fail, and the 
money virtually be thrown away." The 
children, the teachers, the directors, and the 
superintendents were the objects of his chief- 
est concern, and upon these he freely and 
unceasingly spent himself. 

To indicate the deep impression he was 
so rapidly making upon educational affairs 
at home and abroad — for the latter but 
reflects the former — we take the following 
paragraphs from the New England Journal 
of Education, constituting part of an ex- 
tended notice of one of his Annual Reports : 

Dr. Higbee is one of the strongest State Superin- 
tendents we have in this country. He is the execu- 
tive officer of the great Keystone State, whose schools 



DR. E. E. HIGBEE : IN LOVING REMEMBRANCE. 



are famous in all parts of the land. This State sys- 
tem of public schools is one of the broadest and best. 
Dr. H. is himself clearly seen through the printed 
pages of his report, — his scholarship, his high 
manly and moral tone, his administrative ability, 
his straightforward business way of doing his 
work and of expressing himself concerning that 
work. We have been impressed while reading 
his strong utterances with the power of the man 
that shows throughout this official document. He 
is a man of very great zeal and enthusiasm in his 
labors. Within the four years that he has been in 
office he has traveled much over the entire State, 
visiting and lecturing at teachers' institutes and other 
educational assemblies, watching with a critical eye 
all tendencies in the educational work, and moulding 
educational sentiment, as few men could do. He has 
delivered lectures on school topics in nearly every 
county, and in some counties has lectured before in- 
stitutes for three successive years. His work in this 
direction alone has been of inestimable value to the 
school interests of Pennsylvania. He is recognized 
as one of the most accomplished scholars of the 
State. No one questions this who knows him. As 
a classical scholar, he has read nearly all the Greek 
and Latin authors extant. His attainments in phil- 
osophy also are high. He is at home in the history 
of philosophy, and is quite a specialist in psychology. 
His keen insight into the philosophy of education 
and his clear and forcible statement of the truth as he 
sees it, have given him great power in the direction 
of educational thought throughout the State." 

At the expiration of Dr. Higbee's term of 
office there was reason to suppose that with 
the political change that had taken place in 
the Executive Department of the State ad- 
ministration, a change would also be made 
in the Superintendency of Public Instruc- 
tion. This fear, however, proved to be 
groundless. For reasons best known to 
himself, perhaps in obedience to a true 
instinct, it may be with an honest desire to 
eliminate politics from the administration of 
the school affairs of the State, certainly with 
a correct appreciation of the very general 
drift of public sentiment so urgently in 
favor of Dr. Higbee's retention in office, 
Gov. Pattison, to his credit be it said, de- 
termined that he should be his own succes- 
sor. Accordingly, in the spring of 1885, 
he was reappointed and entered upon the 
continuance of his official duties with fresh 
vigor and zeal. 

The full significance of this re-appoint- 
ment was duly appreciated by the friends of 
education everywhere, and the Governor 
could not but be deeply gratified by the 
numerous and sincere encomiums that were 
passed upon him for the moral strength with 
which he withstood the enormous political 
pressure that must have been brought to 
bear upon him to secure the nomination of 
a Superintendent out of the household of 
his own political faith. Dr. Higbee, as 
well as others, saw in this conspicuous act a 



most hopeful sign of encouragement to 
remain steadfast in his determination to 
dissever the administration of his office as 
far as possible from the baneful influence of 
partisan considerations. Under the cir- 
cumstances, then, it was with high hopes 
and a renewed sense of responsibility that 
he faced the future, which never before 
seemed so big with the magnitude of the 
work he had in view. If he labored before, 
he labored now more abundantly, and per- 
ceptible progress was steadily made. 

But soon the sky was to be overcast with 
black clouds, high hopes dashed, and spirits 
crushed. Let us pass this period, the spring 
of 1886, as briefly, as silently as possible. 
We refer to the crusade of persecution to 
which he was subjected in his capacity of 
Superintendent of Soldiers' Orphan Schools. 
For particulars the reader must look else- 
where, only he will not read aright if he 
does not discover that for cruel wrong and 
utter groundlessness of charges made on the 
one side, and for patient suffering and heroic 
forbearance on the other, it deserves to be 
characterized as one of the most indefensible 
and heart-rending assaults ever made upon 
the character of a public official. 

What the underlying motives may have 
been is known best to the instigators of this 
whole lamentable affair ; what their feelings 
have since been can only be imagined ; but 
what poignant suffering was inflicted we 
know too well. It was indeed a "fiery fur- 
nace " of trial for Dr. Higbee, the fierce 
heat of which was intensified almost beyond 
endurance by the heavy domestic affliction 
which fell upon him at this time in the death 
of a dear son just upon the verge of man- 
hood's estate. "The heart knoweth its own 
bitterness." It is true Dr. Higbee's com- 
plete exoneration came in due course of 
time, and he was deeply, tenderly, at times 
tearfully, sensible of the boundless kindness 
and unfailing confidence he experienced at 
the hands of his numerous friends every- 
where. It was a precious comfort for him 
to know that when he had "but tears to 
give" he was not left to " weep those tears 
alone." But the consuming grief that 
lacerated the natural affections of his heart, 
and the no less consuming distress that op- 
pressed the refined sensitiveness of his na- 
ture, made sad inroad upon the vitality of 
his physical constitution. He had been 
brought nearer to the reality of the spiritual 
world, but he never recovered from the ef- 
fect of the cruel blows he had received, and 
from this time on, we venture to say, he 
lived daily in sight of the end. 



LAST DA YS AT DESK A YD ON PLATFORM. 



15 



In the spring of 1889 he was reappointed 
by Gov. Beaver, in response to the almost 
universal desire of the leaders of educational 
work in all parts of the State, and he en- 
tered upon the third term of his office with 
health somewhat shattered, but with zeal 
unabated. After his return from his annual 
hay-fever trip in the following September, 
he felt that he had gained some much 
needed strength, and began his laborious 
Institute work without a thought of sparing 
himself. Thus, within the last week of his 
earthly life, we find him at Huntingdon, 
December 3d and 4th, with reference to 
which Supt. Brumbaugh writes: 

He attended the entire sessions on Thursday, re- 
marking to me once during the day that he could not 
this season do his work with his accustomed vigor. 
" I am," said he, half jocosely, " only fifty-nine, but 
I look like a man of eighty, and feel like a man of 
ninety." He made the closing address ofour afternoon 
session. His theme was the Identity of Home and 
School Training. In this address for forty minutes 
he held the rapt attention of fully 1,300 people. In 
it he spoke with all his usual earnestness, and that 
profound depth of thought and feeling which so often 
characterized his platform utterances. He reached 
beyond the ordinary ken, and saw and described 
visions not revealed in like fullness to other men. 
His wonderful grasp of our educational environment, 
his deep and exhaustive analysis of character as a 
factor in education, his earnest and Christian charity 
for the honest work of the teacher, his intense and 
righteous resentment of all sophistries in education, 
and his marvelous and rhythmic diction, combined 
to make his address a memorable one. It was prob- 
ably the last, rich, full outpouring of the treasures of 
his wonderful mind. 

Mr. J. P. McCaskey furnishes the follow- 
ing interesting account of his last interview 
with Dr. Higbee : 

On the Saturday morning before his death, Dr. 
Higbee called at the house of the junior editor of 
1 'he Journal, to talk over a paper which he was 
then considering, and the plan of which was taking 
definite shape in his mind. He read a letter from State 
Supt. Draper of New York, adding that he would write 
the paper as requested. After discussing the matter 
for probably an hour or an hour and a half, we went 
down town together, and the writer complimented him 
upon the ease with which he took the steep grade of 
the street, where a few months before he had been 
compelled to walk more slowly because of asthmatic 
trouble. "Oh," he replied, " I'm much better; that 
gives me now but little annoyance in walking." 

He called again in the afternoon, at perhaps half- 
past three o'clock. We had not yet reached home, 
but he asked for some paper and said he would write 
awhile. As we came in, about four o'clock, he hailed 
us cheerily about having "taken possession." We 
were always glad to see him, and told him so. He 
spoke of the pleasure he found in writing with his 
old-time readiness, and added, "Why, I can write 
for two hours at a stretch now, and enjoy it." Seeing 
that he was full of his subject, and thinking closely 
upon it, and that it would be discourtesy to engage 
him in conversation, the writer remarked, " I am 
going to the desk up stairs, and when you are through 



with your writing, call or have some one else call 
me." In probably a half-hour or three-quarters, one 
of the boys came to say that Dr. Higbee wanted to 
see us. He read with much interest the paper, which 
he had written as far as to the last paragraph of sug- 
gestions, while he sat there — and spoke of it with all 
his old time animation and vigor. Struck with the 
life-force that seemed roused in him, we said, in a 
kind of glad surprise, "Why, man, you're getting 
better ! You look as if there were ten years of good 
work in you yet !" He smiled as if he half thought 
so too — so much of the old energy had come back. 
And so we talked pleasantly and hopefully until he 
went down the steps, and down the street, with form 
erect, firm step, and face resolutely to the front, as 
he walked rapidly away. We looked after him, 
marking, with a feeling of gratitude, the spirit and 
firmness of every movement, so much in contrast 
with what we had known of him no long time be- 
fore — and turned back into the doorway thinking, 
" Dr. Higbee is getting well!" 

Alas ! he never got well. On the follow- 
ing Sunday he had the privilege of uniting 
for the last time with his family in the 
blessed communion of the Lord's Supper, 
which he always associated with the Com- 
munion of Saints, that precious article of 
the Apostles' Creed that was so frequently 
in his meditations, and which, in his preach- 
ing, he never ceased to emphasize as of the 
most profound significance in every true 
conception of the Christian pilgrimage. 
On Monday morning he finished the paper 
already referred to, which was prepared in 
response to a request from State Supt. 
Draper, for suggestions as to " the best 
method of making our Educational Exhibit 
at the International Exposition 1893." In 
the evening of the same day he arrived at 
Miffiintown, where he had an engagement 
to participate in the work of the Juniata 
County Institute. On the following morn- 
ing, he is reported as having made a most 
eloquent speech on the importance of secur- 
ing libraries for the school and the family. 
In the afternoon he again lectured, as late 
as 3 o'clock, in regard to which one who 
heard him says: "His remarks were most 
happy, abounding in choicest thoughts 
from the rich storehouse of his wisdom and 
practical knowledge, with here and there a 
dash of delicate humor that made him very 
entertaining indeed." 

There is reason to suppose that he had 
some premonition of what was coming, for 
we find him hastening his departure for 
home, and at about 5 o'clock, while waiting 
for the train, upon the platform of Mifflin 
Station, the lightning stroke fell ; paralysis 
did its fatal work ; and after a few agoniz- 
ing moments of pitiful efforts to express 
a last wish, the conscious light of a noble in- 
telligence went out, whilst his great heart con- 
tinued to beat for fifty-six hours thereafter. 



DR. E. E. NIG BEE: IN LOVING REMEMBRANCE. 



Medical attendance was promptly sum- 
moned, but nothing could be done save to 
render his condition as comfortable as pos- 
sible for the journey home which was at 
once undertaken. What a sorrowful home- 
coming it was! Lead-winged hours of 
painful watching, anxious waiting, tireless 
nursing and prayerful hoping, followed. 
There was no return to consciousness. 
Early on Friday morning, December 13, 
1889, the spirit took its flight, and Dr. 
Higbee was at rest. In accordance with his 
own frequently expressed wish he was buried 
at Emmitsburg, Md., a place hallowed by 
the sweetest and saddest memories of his 
earthly life. 

" * * it's hard to bear 
The loss; but oh! we maun forbear." 

The writer is but one of many who have 
felt the informing influences of Dr. Higbee's 
life, who have had their minds quickened 
into activity by the creative energy of his 
vigorous thought-power, and who have had 
their hearts warmed into a generous glow 
by the enkindling touch of his kindly nature. 
Who has not felt that it was good to be with 
him ? As I look back over the years of my 
intercourse with him, my thoughts chastened 
by sorrow, I find it utterly impossible to 
dwell upon his many private virtues with a 
view to single out what may possibly have 
been the predominant quality of his charac- 
ter as revealed to his family and the close 
company of his chosen friends. Things of 
love and grief hate the "garish light" of 
day, and we are here dealing with things 
that the heart refuses to surrender at our 
bidding. It is enough to say that to those 
who knew him best, he was one of those 
rare souls 

" * * quales neque candidiores 
Terra tuht."* 

Touching his more public character, I am 
inclined to think that his greatest power lay 
in his ministry as a steward of the mysteries 
of grace, and particularly in his preaching 
of the gospel. I do not forget that as an 
instructor in the class-room he was unsur- 
passed and had few equals. But that which 
made him so masterful in unfolding the 
truth of a particular science and awakening 
the susceptibilities necessary for its appre- 
hension and appropriation on the part of 
his pupils, was that settled habit of his mind, 
according to which he steadily and persist- 
ently subordinated all the manifold forms of 
truth to the one great overshadowing truth 
as it is in Christ, The Truth. Neither do I 

* Earth has not produced souls freer from stain. 



forget that, upon a memorable occasion, Dr 
Higbee himself said, " In remembering that 
I am a clergyman, I do not forget that I am 
a man." Manhood was the supreme thing, 
but a manhood as glorified by its incarna- 
tion in The Perfect Man, that sublime re- 
ality and great central fact of our life, which 
in its comprehensive largeness includes all 
the functional activities of our earthly exist- 
ence, and is greater than the teacher, the 
preacher, the laborer in whatever sphere. 
In laying aside therefore the distinctive 
robes of his ministerial office to be clothed 
with the authority of the State as the Super- 
intendent of its schools, he did not lay 
aside his high calling in Christ Jesus, but 
continued in season and out of season to do 
his Master's will as a preacher of righteous- 
ness, the only difference being that his field 
had now widened out into proportions of 
almost boundless extent. These reflections 
need no expansion here, and are only thrown 
out as involving a necessary factor for con- 
sideration in estimating the character and 
full significance of the work he accomplished 
as State Superintendent. 

Of this work we shall let others speak, al- 
though we are as yet too near the scene of 
action to have the last word said upon it. 
For the present, it would seem that nothing 
stronger or better can be desired than the 
collective judgment of those who are most 
competent to form a reasonably just opinion, 
because by virtue of their position they are 
most capable of estimating the value of the 
service rendered to the Commonwealth in 
her most vital interest — that of General 
Education. In bringing this too hastily 
written sketch to a close, therefore, it only 
remains for us to invite the reader's atten- 
tion to what lies beyond in the following 
pages, where he may perchance find a reason 
for this commemorative book, which it is 
confidently believed will constitute a by no 
means unfitting monument to Dr. Higbee 
in every school to which it shall find its 
way. The teachers of Pennsylvania will 
know how to learn and teach again the les- 
son of this exemplary meditative life ; they 
may be trusted also to appreciate the pur- 
pose of this publication, namely, to perpet- 
uate for greater and more wide-spread good 
the wholesome influence exerted by one 
whose conspicuous merit was excelled only 
by his innate modesty. 

"Let the living live; and you, gather 

together your thoughts, leave behind you a 

legacy of feeling and u 'as ; you will be 

most useful so." -, ~ „, ,, 

George l i . Mull. 



TRIBUTES OF LOVING MEMORY. 



THE funeral services were held on Mon- 
day, December 16th, in the First Re- 
formed church, beginning at 11:30 a. m., 
and concluding at 1:20 p. m. The large 
church was filled by those who came to pay 
the last sad tribute of respect to the emi- 
nent dead, and the exercises were of the 
most solemn and impressive character. 

The public schools of the city were closed; 
Franklin and Marshall College ended its 
session at an early hour ; and many pupils 
of the schools and College students were 
present, as were the Faculty of the College 
and the public school teachers. Within the 
c hancel railing were beautiful floral emblems. 
One, a cross and crown, was from the De- 
partment of Public Instruction, and another 
from the clerks of the Soldiers' Orphans' 
Department. Cards of convenient size, giv- 
ing the order of service and the hymns 
printed in full for the use of the congrega- 
tion, were distributed throughout the church. 

The services were conducted by Rev. Dr. 
J. M. Titzel, pastor of the church, assisted 
by Rev. Dr. Thomas G. Apple, Lancaster, 
and Rev. Drs. Bausman and McCauley, of 
Reading. The choir chanted the ninetieth 
Psalm, " Lord, Thou hast been our dwell- 
ing place." The Scripture lesson was then 
read by Rev. Dr. Titzel, being part of the 
15th chapter of St. Paul's First Epistle to 
the Corinthians. After an earnest prayer 
by the Rev. Dr. McCauley, the hymn 
" Jesus, o'er the grave victorious," written 
by Dr. Higbee in 1873, was sun g by the 
large congregation to his favorite tune for 
it with most solemn effect. 

The funeral sermon, which is here given 
in full, was then preached by Rev. Dr. Thos. 
G. Apple, after which all united in singing 
the hymn "Asleep in Jesus," to the tune 
"Hamburg." Rev. Dr. E. V. Gerhart, 
president of the Theological Seminary, and 
Rev. Dr. Bausman, of Reading, paid loving 
tributes to the memory of their departed 
friend and brother, which also are found, here- 
with. After an impressive prayer, a funeral 
hymn, a dirge by Handel, was sung by a 
hundred or more of the pupils of the High 
School, and the beautiful service ended with 
the Dead March in "Saul," by Handel, 
which was played by Prof. Carl Matz while 
the large congregation passed slowly by the 
sleeping form of the dead educator and theo- 



logian, and until the casket had been re- 
moved from the church. It was then taken 
to the Pennsylvania depot, and the funeral 
party at 2 p. m. took the special car which 
had been engaged for Emmitsburg, which 
place was reached about 7 o'clock in the 
evening, arrangements having been made 
that the interment should take place on Tues- 
day morning at i-i o'clock. 

The following were the pall bearers : Rev. 
M. H. Sangree, Steelton ; Rev. Ellis N. 
Kremer, Lebanon ; Rev. W. F. Lichliter, 
Lancaster ; Rev. Geo. B. Resser, Lebanon ; 
Hon. John Q. Stewart and Hon. Henry 
Houck, Deputy Superintendents of Public 
Instruction ; Prof. John B. Kieffer, Lancas- 
ter ; Mr. Jacob Heyser, Chambersburg. 

Among those who came to pay their last 
tribute of respect to the distinguished dead 
were Governor Beaver, Secretary of the 
Commonwealth Stone, Lieutenant-Governor 
Davies, Adjutant General Hastings, the 
Lancaster School Board in a body, the Fac- 
ulty and students of Franklin and Marshall 
College and of the Theological Seminary, 
professors of the State Normal School at 
Millersville, officials of the Department of 
Public Instruction, clerks of the Soldiers' 
Orphan Department, and a number of the 
leading educators of the State, including 
county, city, and borough Superintendents, 
principals of Normal schools, teachers and 
clergymen of Lancaster and neighboring 
towns and cities. 



FUNERAL SERMON BY REV. DR. APPLE. 

Text : For we know that if the earthly house of our 
tabernacle (or bodily frame) be dissolved, we have 
a building from God, a house not made with hands, 
eternal in the heavens. — 2 Cor. v. 1. 

The hope of a future life for man after 
the dissolution of the body, is ingrained in 
our very nature, and it has been a guiding 
light for the present earthly existence in all 
ages and among all people. Whether we 
attribute it to the deepest spiritual intuitions 
of our nature, or to the surviving tradition 
of a primitive religion, or both combined, 
the fact remains that in all religions the 
hope of immortality has ever pointed man 
to an order of existence beyond the present. 
This hope has been confirmed by Chris- 
tianity, and to it has been added by divine 
revelation, what unassisted reason could not 



DR. E. E. HIGBEE: IN LOVING REMEMBRANCE. 



compass — the resurrection of the body ; so 
that the future life hoped for and believed 
in comprehends an existence after death for 
the whole man, body and soul. This faith 
of the believer in Christianity is centred in 
Christ, who not only taught it in words, but 
actualized it in His own divine-human person, 
in His resurrection from the dead, by which 
He brought life and immortality to light. 

This faith involves, indeed, a great mys- 
tery, transcending the deductions of science,, 
yet a mystery that does not contradict rea- 
son, but rather fulfills and satisfies the hope 
of all mankind. Instead of doubting such 
a revelation, should it not rather be a source 
of the highest thankfulness that God has 
mercifully and lovingly so far drawn aside 
the veil that conceals the future, in order to 
reveal to us a life higher and better than 
the present, which satisfies the deepest 
longing of all human hearts? It is this 
faith that gives significance to the service of 
Christian burial. It is not only the respect 
and reverence we pay to the tenement of 
clay which embodied a soul we knew and 
loved, but also the assurance that in a new 
body, different from yet identical with the 
old, he shall appear again in the higher 
spiritual state of being in which man is to 
reach his proper destiny. 

We naturally shrink from death — man was 
not created to die, but to live — and we feel 
when confronted with this last enemy, that 
it contradicts our longings and aspirations. 
It severs the dearest and tenderest ties that 
bind us together in life; but revelation as- 
sures us that even this last enemy has been 
conquered by him who is the resurrection 
and the life, and therefore the separation 
caused by death is only temporary, for the 
dead shall rise again. "It is sown in cor- 
ruption, it is raised in incorruption ; it is 
sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory ; it 
is sown in weakness, it is raised in power ; 
it is sown a natural body, it is raised a 
spiritual body. If there is a natural body, 
there is also a spiritual body." 

In this Christian faith we hold funeral 
service over the mortal remains of our de- 
parted brother this day. 

It is as a very intimate and warmly at- 
tached friend of the deceased that I attempt 
to voice the general sentiment, in poor and 
feeble words, in regard to his life and life- 
work. I would utter no fulsome eulogy on 
an occasion like this, when standing in the 
presence of death, for I know it would not 
be the wish of him whose refined, sensitive 
nature would shrink from any such display. 
But I may be allowed to speak of the ideal 



which he sought faithfully to realize. There 
is such an ideal in the life of every one, and 
we estimate his life by the care and dili- 
gence with which he seeks to reach it, even 
though there are imperfections and short- 
comings in every one of us in this effort and 
struggle. 

Dr. Higbee possessed a combination of 
more than ordinary intellectual endowment 
on the one hand, and on the other, a strong 
idealizing power which verged towards the 
poetic. His intellectual powers were culti- 
vated to the highest degree by a thorough 
classical education and continuous hard 
study during his maturer life. His intellec- 
tual attainments were more varied and uni- 
versal than in the case of most scholars. 
He was a fine mathematician, having mas- 
tered its most intricate abstract departments 
in the highest branches, and he was also a 
superior linguist, being entirely at home in 
the Latin and Greek classics, while he also 
cultivated the natural sciences, weaving 
around his study of nature the finest artistic 
conceptions. His aesthetic power was 
equally strong and highly developed. He 
appreciated art in all its forms, and satisfied 
his refined and cultivated taste by himself 
producing specimens of painting and poetry. 

This idealizing power it was that devel- 
oped in him an intensity in reaching after 
the highest perfection in whatever occupied 
his attention. Along with this there was 
an enthusiasm that made him whole-souled 
in all his work, and communicated itself to 
his students during the period of his life in 
which he occupied the professor's chair. 
His students readily caught the enthusiasm 
of his own nature, became warmly attached 
to him as their teacher personally, and at 
the same time imbibed an enthusiastic inter- 
est in their studies. 

It was while enjoying the full ripeness of 
his powers that he was called to the office 
of Superintendent of Public Instruction, the 
headship of the popular educational interest 
of this Commonwealth, through which he 
became most widely known and honored 
throughout the State. He found the system 
of education in the State in a highly flourish- 
ing condition, through the efficiency of his 
worthy predecessor, Dr. Wickersham, who 
still remains with us as the honored friend 
of popular education. 

Dr. Higbee brought all his gifted powers 
and thorough and varied culture to bear 
upon his work, and proved that the highest 
and best culture is possessed of the greatest 
efficiency in advancing the interest of com- 
mon school education. 



AS A MINISTER OF THE GOSPEL. 



19 



With his broad philosophic grasp he at 
once saw that the highest ideal of education 
is not inconsistent with its usefulness, its 
practical importance. In his mind educa- 
tion, whether in its higher or lower order, 
was an end in itself, and carried in itself its 
own exceeding great reward, because it had 
to do with the training of immortal souls. 
Above all its earthly uses, which he was 
quick to realize and encourage, he never- 
theless always held up the education of the 
man, the formation of character, as first and 
foremost a good in itself, above the value of 
silver and gold. In this view he grasped 
clearly the harmony between education in 
its rudimentary forms and its higher forms 
in the college and university. They are in 
no sense antagonistic ; the one is simply the 
completion of the other ; and though the 
one stops with that degree of training which 
is required for the ordinary pursuits of life, 
yet so far as it goes it is the training of the 
same dignified being as in the case of the 
other. 

His beautiful poetic utterances at times at 
the County Institutes were not mere vision- 
ary speculations, but they were idealizations 
of what is highest and best in man. What 
are called the practical industrial interests 
of man, whose importance in common 
school education he never questioned, re- 
ceive their real and true value from man 
himself, in the height of his dignity as an 
immortal being ; hence those interests were 
always held subordinate to the training of 
the man himself with his heaven-born 
powers. 

The first consideration in education re- 
fers to man as man, and then to him as a 
mechanic, a business man, a professional 
man, etc. And when one stands in the 
presence of death and realizes the shortness 
of life and the eternity beyond, who can re- 
sist the truth in this view of education ? 

Dr. Higbee performed well the duties of 
his office. His masterly ability and dili- 
gence were seen in all his work. His ster- 
ling integrity could not imagine, much less 
tolerate, any want of honesty in administer- 
ing the interest of the schools of the State, 
so far as he was able to reach them in his 
supervision. 

In estimating his character as Superinten- 
dent of Public Instruction, I can do no 
better than quote the appropriate and fitting 
words of his superior officer in the State 
Government, Governor James A. Beaver, 
which appeared after my foregoing remarks 
were written : " Dr. Higbee was a man of 
broad culture ; a polished and thoughtful 



scholar, familiar alike with the treasures of 
ancient and modern thought and literature. 
As an instructor, his extraordinary attain- 
ments and varied resources brought to him 
abundant success in every department of 
effort, and as an educator in its broadest 
and best sense, he had obtained a rank 
among the first in the nation. As a public 
officer he was painstaking and conscien- 
tious ; as a man he was pure, simple-hearted, 
genial, gentle, and kind. The teachers of 
the State and his associates in the great 
work of education loved him with a filial 
devotion, and the Commonwealth trusted 
him as a pure, noble, true, and honest man." 

This beautiful tribute is worthy the head 
and the heart of the highest officer of this 
great Commonwealth. The scene will not 
soon be forgotten when the Governor of the 
State recently visited the large Institute 
of the teachers of Lancaster county, and 
made that able and earnest speech, in 
which he was followed by Dr. Higbee, the 
one complementing and supporting the 
other, in their high appreciation of the im- 
portant interest of education. 

Dr. Higbee received his appointment as 
State Superintendent successively from three 
Governors, and this testimony from Gover- 
nor Beaver, at the close of his long and 
arduous labors, attests the purity as well as 
the success of Dr. Higbee's administration 
of the educational interests of the State, and 
is highly gratifying to his numerous friends 
throughout the land, especially those who 
recommended him to the responsible position. 

But it was in his character as a minister of 
the Gospel, both in the office of pastor and 
professor, that his spiritual energies received, 
their highest exercise, He received the 
mysteries of grace in humble, child-like 
faith, and gave them most effective utter- 
ance, whether in the pulpit or in the profes- 
sor's chair. He was a speaker of rare abil- 
ity, and he was able to electrify his hearers 
by his incisive, well-chosen words, and by 
that rare combination of profound thought 
and beautiful imagery. There was no bois- 
terous declamation in his oratory. From 
the first words he uttered, every one felt that 
he was listening to one who was master of 
his subject, and that he could not only sat- 
isfy the intellect, but also warm the heart. 
In his ministry, in his preaching the mys- 
teries of faith, as well as when he was dis- 
coursing in the sphere of science and phil- 
osophy, he spoke from his sense of the high 
ideal which he pictured, his poetic sense, 
which imaged the realities of grace, as well 
as the objects in the natural creation. 



DR. E. E. HIGBEE: IN LOVING REMEMBRANCE. 



The disparity which he saw between his 
own ideals and their imperfect realization in 
our human life and in the movements of 
history, often led him to take a desponding 
view of things. It is so with every profound 
thinker, but especially one gifted with a 
lively imagination. Whatever of good is 
actualized in their own lives and in the 
movements of history, they see yet far 
higher ideals that ought to be realized, and 
over the failure to realize them they lament. 
Such discontent is praiseworthy. The high- 
est genius is often the most despondent of 
men, restless and dissatisfied until he has 
reached his ideal, and this, if an artist, he 
does not realize in his own realm of true art. 
The poets are the seers, who in this respect 
correspond to the prophets of revelation. I 
emphasize this point, because his nearest 
friends saw and knew this artistic tendency, 
this idealizing power in Dr. Higbee, which 
explained much in his utterances and in his 
life that otherwise could not be properly 
appreciated. 

There is an ideal for the believer in Christ 
which is never actualized in this life, because 
of the infirmity of the physical constitution 
and the evil environment of the world ; but 
as death releases the soul from these impedi- 
ments to the higher life, we may believe that 
this ideal becomes actualized after death. 
The soul, principled in love, then unfolds 
its powers in the new and better environ- 
ment, and reaches out with better promise 
of success to that perfection which is to be 
fully attained in the final state in Heaven. 
The process of education does not stop at 
death, but it goes forward until the whole 
kingdom of righteousness and glory shall be 
finally ushered in at the last day. 

It remains yet to refer to the departed as 
he was in the more retired sphere of friend- 
ship, in the social circle, in the sacred pre- 
cincts of his home life, where his innermost 
life and spirit were most fully revealed. His 
attachments were warm and intense. There 
was about him a personal magnetism that 
won upon those who came to be numbered 
among his friends. In the social circle he 
was brilliant in his utterances. His hearty 
shake of the hand and the bright smile 
which lighted up his countenance when 
meeting a friend, testified to the intensity of 
his friendship. 

As I speak here to-day at his funeral, there 
are scenes of other days that come up to me, 
when he was the admired and beloved in 
circles of attached friends, where his genial 
qualities won upon all hearts. It was the 
sunny side of life for us then, as we met 



in the social circle or literary club to dis- 
cuss subjects in science, literature and art ; 
and when, in the enthusiasm of youth still 
lingering in us, we enjoyed the warm sym- 
pathy and friendship of the hour, and the 
future of life spanned our horizon as with 
the rainbow of rich promise and bright 
hopes. My heart then learned to warm to- 
ward him, and there are many to-day who 
will fondly call up those seasons of the rich- 
est enjoyment. In those circles, his spark- 
ling intellectual utterances, and his magnetic 
heartsome influence, made him the centre ot 
admiration and love. But I may not in- 
dulge on this occasion in such personal remi- 
niscences, which remain to gild the years ot 
later life, and I make this brief reference 
only to place him in his proper light in this 
respect — as he was in the bosom of his 
friends. 

He was the radiant light of the home cir- 
cle, and his sudden departure has left a void 
there that fills the hearts of the loved ones 
left behind with unspeakable sorrow. No 
poor words of mine could alleviate this sor- 
row, nor would this be the occasion to utter 
them even should I attempt to do so. Only 
the support of divine grace can sustain the 
sorrowing at such a time. But I may be al- 
lowed to say to the sorrowing family that 
the cordial sympathy of multitudes through- 
out the Church and State is with them at 
this sad and trying season of their affliction. 

Call it coincidence or presentiment, or 
what we may, there is a melancholy satisfac- 
tion and comfort in recalling the last few 
days of the life of the deceased on earth. For 
some time — some days, I mean — previous to 
his death, he seemed to be going about tak- 
ing leave of his friends. It was a bright, 
beautiful Saturday ten days ago, when, as 
by a simultaneous impulse, he and myself 
started each from his home to visit the 
other. We met midway and started to- 
gether for a walk, and in talking of affairs in 
Church and State he said, very emphati- 
cally, that his faith in providence was so un- 
bounded that he could not entertain a doubt 
as to the success of the right and the good 
under the guiding hand of Him who rules 
all things, both great and small. Whilst re- 
alizing his failing health, yet he seemed to 
have a more than usually hopeful view of 
life and its results in history. 

He spent the morning ot his last Sabbath 
on earth with us in the Chapel communion 
service, and when the work of the following 
week began, he took his way to a distant 
post of duty, nevermore to return to us in 
the possession of consciousness. He was 



" AS SEEING HIM WHO IS INVISIBLE: 



smitten down at the post of duty with his 
harness on. His work on earth was done, 
and well done. He had expended his en- 
ergy and strength in his arduous work, and 
at the end of his journey he laid aside his 
"pilgrim staff and sandal shoon " and en- 
tered into his rest. His last struggle was 
brief, and, as we may believe, without con- 
scious suffering. His sudden death is a sol- 
emn admonition to us who remain, as to the 
uncertainties of life, the solemnity of its re- 
sponsibilities, and the need of divine help 
to meet them. May God help us in the 
weakness and infirmity of the body to be 
faithful unto death, so that when our hour 
comes we may be ready to join the great 
congregation who have gone before, and with 
them reach the consummation of redemption 
and bliss through our Lord Jesus Christ ! 



TRIBUTE OF REV. DR. GERHART. 

A brief tribute, but it is painful to offer it 
to the memory of my sleeping friend. Un- 
bidden come to my lips the words of inspi- 
ration; " Blessed are the dead which die in 
the Lord from henceforth : Yea, saith the 
Spirit, that they may rest from their labors; 
and their works follow with them." 

There are two ways in which we may 
look at death. From this side is one of 
them, according to the law of nature and in 
the light of natural reason. Though the 
pagan may have a hope, it is very dim. 
And to every unchristian philosopher, when 
he comes to that verge, there arises before 
him a wide, deep abyss into which he makes 
a plunge. The other way of looking at 
death is from the Christian side ; to look 
upon it in the light which the resurrection of 
the Lord Jesus Christ sheds upon it, illumi- 
nating it with glory from the heavenly 
world. From that point of observation, I 
stand here and contemplate the transition 
from the earthly to the post-earthly period 
of him whom I loved. 

God is the author of life. Death is the 
bitter fruit of sin. In Christ sin is abol- 
ished. By Him death is overcome. Life 
and immortality are brought to light by the 
Gospel. I look on death not chiefly from 
the natural side, but from the other side 
which is illumined by the resurrection, by 
the victory over sin and death, achieved by 
Jesus Christ. So Dr. Higbee viewed the 
exit of the believer. His faith in the per- 
sonal Christ and in all the facts of Chris- 
tianity was clear, decided, uncompromising, 
firm — so firm, so undoubted, that no enmity 
of wicked men, no opposition of science, no 
criticisms of skepticism, ever touched his 



convictions or caused him for a moment to 
waver. 

Dr. Higbee I had known from an early 
period of his ministry. But it was not until 
the fall of 1868, when we became associated 
as Professors in the Theological Seminary at 
Mercersburg, that I became intimately ac- 
quainted with him. Of his talents, his 
learning, his many-sided culture, so forcibly 
presented by the Rev. Dr. Apple, I need not 
speak. I wish only to emphasize his strong 
and pronounced Christian faith. It was 
this in such a talented and cultured man of 
letters that especially arrested my mind. 
His was not an ordinary assent to the claims 
of Christianity. It was an intense convic- 
tion that Jesus is the Christ, the God-man, 
the only hope of the world. I may call his 
faith a passionate faith, for scarcely any 
other word can express the intense feeling ot 
certainty and the strength of energy with 
which his fiery soul would speak of the one 
Lord who was to him the First and the 
Last. So profound was his conviction ot 
the truth of Christianity, so lively his sense 
of its infinite preciousness, that had the 
alternative been presented of denying Jesus 
Christ or surrendering his life, the question 
would not for an instant have been debated. 

Every genuinely Christian sermon edifies 
me, even though its merits be only ordinary. 
But there are four men whose sermons have 
above all others been to me a spiritual edifi- 
cation. Of these four the Rev. Dr. Higbee 
was one. When he had adequate time for 
preparation, and was in his best mood, 
physically as well as spiritually, the sermons 
he preached in the old chapel at Mercers- 
burg were an inspiration. The shadow of 
no cloud of doubt ever flitted across the 
glorious perspective of the kingdom of God 
as it opened before the eye of his spiritual 
vision. As Abraham endured, so he preached 
the Gospel, "as seeing him who is invis- 
ible." This unclouded presentation of 
central truths, especially the corner-stone of 
revelation, the resurrection of Jesus from the 
dead, and the reality of the kingdom of God 
founded by this mighty triumph of love, 
quickened by faith, lifted me up in the 
spirit, and stimulated my Christian life, as 
has been done by the discourses of but few 
other men. 

In the Lord he lived and preached the 
Gospel; in the Lord he has died ; now he 
rests from his labors, and his works follow 
with him. His "works follow" him. The 
good deeds of a Christian live on in Church 
and State after he has gone hence. The 
spirit of consecration, of education, of cul- 



DR. E. E. HIGBEE: IN LOVING REMEMBRANCE. 



ture, which Dr. Higbee has breathed into 
his official activity for nearly nine years 
throughout the State of Pennsylvania, will 
survive his presence with us in the body, 
and prove an uplifting influence, though the 
earnest tones of his voice from the platform 
will not again be heard. 

There is, however, another and a richer 
sense in which his "works follow" him. 
The spiritual life which a man cultivates on 
earth goes with him into the post-earthly 
period of his existence. What in truth he 
is he continues to be ; what he has acquired 
he will possess and develop forever. 

Think you that the education and culture 
of Dr. Higbee has significance only for this 
world ? Think you that mental discipline, 
or fidelity to truth or beauty, or fixedness 
of right purpose, or consecration to Jesus 
Christ, fails when this noble earthly tene- 
ment falls ? By no means. The future in- 
herits the present. The whole man passes 
through the crisis and survives. The whole 
man asserts himself hereafter, his talents, his 
intelligence, his character, his consecration 
to the kingdom of God. Nay, more ! All 
normal possibilities are there fulfilled. Lat- 
ent mental powers, immature moral re- 
sources, the undeveloped forces of divine 
capacity, all unfold their fulness of life and 
ripen towards god-like perfection. In the 
hereafter each man is the inheritor of what 
he is and of what he became on earth. 
" Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he 
also reap." 

It is a delightful thought with mc that my 
very last associations with Dr. Higbee were 
on last Sunday a week ago, at the service to 
which my respected colleague has referred. 
It happened to be my morning to officiate, 
as professor in the college, and Dr. Higbee 
received from me the administration of the 
Holy Communion. That is the last time I 
saw him, the last time he saw me, the last 
time there was between us any communion. 
I could not wish a better parting transaction 
than that. That work follows him. The 
man beyond the grave is heir to the man on 
this side. This is true of every believer in 
the Lord Jesus, every devout believer in the 
gospel, every man, like this brother, whose 
high culture — intellectual, moral, and spirit- 
ual — has been so beautifully presented to 
you in himself. Dr. Higbee is the heir to 
Dr. Higbee. His works do follow him, and 
he reaps in the sphere beyond a spiritual re- 
ward in the uplifting energy of what he did 
on earth. He survives with his normal en- 
dowments in bloom. His abilities and cul- 
ture, his energy of purpose and character, 



his firm faith and devotion, he is asserting 
and using in a higher realm. He is not a 
branch cut off from the vine to perish, but 
rather a branch that has put forth new buds 
of richer promise. 

" Well done, good and faithful servant, 
enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." 



TRIBUTE OF REV. DR. BAUSMAN. 

In the presence of death a man feels in- 
tensely helpless, especially if it be in the 
presence of a departed one with whom he 
has been on terms of close friendly inter- 
course. Ties of brotherhood cultivated and 
consecrated during an experience of more 
than thirty years, through fireside commun- 
ion, through the worship of God around his 
altar, in times of mirth and in times of more 
earnestness, ties of such brotherhood are 
thrilled in every fibre when the being who 
represented, on the one side, such a friend- 
ship, lies before you in death. Our first ex- 
periences when our friends depart, are of 
supreme anguish in the shock, it may be, of 
sudden bereavement. But it is well for us 
to remember — if there is anything of that 
sort to remember — that we are Christians, 
both he that is gone and he that remains. 
By the lifeless form of such a brother in 
Christ, I would prefer to sit in silent mourn- 
ing. In such a frame of mind and heart it 
is not an easy matter to order one's utter- 
ance aright. 

We have been called together by the 
sudden ending of a very useful life. Now 
that it has ended, new features of its vigor- 
ous usefulness are disclosed to us. When 
Dr. Chalmers died, Dr. Thomas Guthrie 
said : " Men of his calibre are like mighty 
forest trees; we do not know their size until 
they are cut down." You can never take 
the full and correct measure of a great man 
until he is gone. Thus the personal di- 
mensions of our departed brother seem 
vastly increased now that he has been cut 
down. I have often noticed that much as 
we may admire and appreciate the good, the 
noble and magnanimous qualities of our 
friends while living, somehow we become 
familiarized with them, and they cease to 
impress us. Alas ! when they are gone we 
best take their measure. I think it is so 
with regard to this dear, dear, warm-hearted, 
genial brother Higbee. Now that he has 
vacated his place in the home and in the 
social circle, in the Church and in the State, 
the vacancy itself seems to bring his full 
character into more definite and distinct 
view. And yet I am so glad to say, as I 
look upon his pale and lifeless face, as I did 



EDUCATIONAL INSPIRATION TO MILLIONS. 



23 



at his home, and here — right in the presence 
of God's altar of sacrifice, s)mbolizing the 
Great Sacrifice of our holy faith — I am so 
glad to say that I believe in the undying 
fellowship of believers. I am so glad that 
I can make a part of my experience what I 
do profess. I do believe in the Resurrec- 
tion of the Dead, and in the Life Everlasting, 
as well as in the Communion of Saints. 

We are here, however, not simply as 
mourners, but as thankful mourners. Dr. 
Higbee was a highly gifted man. His mag- 
nificent, God-given talents he employed in 
the service of God and for the good of his 
fellow-beings. His loving, trustful heart, 
his forceful and magnetic mind, his manly 
courage to think, speak, and do that which 
is right and true — these can never die. A 
life like this lives itself into all other lives 
which it teaches and trains. In and through 
them, and through countless others, influ- 
enced in like manner by them, he lives im- 
mortally, forever. A life consecrated to 
grand aims and ends has a dual immortality. 
Its blessed results live on in other lives, its 
brain keeps on throbbing through other 
brains, its loving heart loves on through 
other hearts. 

In this view the good man never dies. 
You may kill his body, but the body is not 
the man. Socrates said to his friends : " By 
and by you will be saying. ' Socrates is dead, ' 
but Socrates will not be dead. By and by 
you will be saying, ' Socrates is in his coffin,' 
but Socrates will not be in his coffin. By 
and by you will be saying, ' We are going 
to bury Socrates,' but you will not bury 
Socrates, you will only bury something that 
belonged to him." 

If this large-brained old Greek could be- 
lieve this without Christianity, how much 
more is it true for those who believe Him 
who has overcome death for us. We can 
not bury such a life ; simply the body in 
which for a season it was tenanted. Like 
Abel of old, " He being dead yet speak- 
eth." I believe of this brother that every 
fibre that was good in him has become in- 
terwoven with every fibre of my own being. 
That warm friendship which attached him 
to so many people, who felt it thrilling 
through their hearts as they felt the warm 
grasp of his hand — that goes on, and also 
satisfies, even though he is gone, and I be- 
lieve in its continuance. 

For a period of eight years and longer 
this brother has been at the head of the 
School Department of Pennsylvania. As 
such he has been the master of twenty-five 
thousand masters, and through these a 



teacher of a million plastic souls. Through 
his wise and aggressive methods, his mag- 
netic public addresses and personal inter- 
course, he became an educational inspiration 
to millions of people. He thought his 
thoughts into their thinking, he breathed 
his life into their life, and thus the person- 
ality of the man passes in ever multiplying 
forms into the personality of millions of 
others, and through them again " he being 
dead yet speaketh." Bless God, he still 
speaks ! This is the nature, my friends, of 
every true education. The teacher lives 
himself into his scholars. The pastor 
breathes that which is best in himself into 
his hearers. If he do not, he had better re- 
sign ! That is the case with all spiritual 
and mental influence. 

Such undying life finds its highest and 
truest expression and fruition in Him " who 
hath abolished death, and hath brought life 
and immortality to light through the gos- 
pel." This truth seemed to be the burden 
of Dr. Higbee's preaching for many years 
before his death. 

Those who stood nearest to him learned 
from his conversation and his prayers how 
his " life was hid with Christ in God." 
Into such a hiding death can never enter. 
In the harassing conflicts of difficult and 
heavy duties, amid the sufferings of increas- 
ing bodily infirmities, and at the bier of his 
departed ones ; the personal, present, sup- 
porting Christ was the only solace and the 
sure hope of his troubled heart. In the 
realm of perfect consummation and bliss he 
still is what he has been, and such he will 
forever remain, to us who believe — the 
good, great, godly brother Higbee. To 
our faith the life that is to come is but a 
continuation of the life that now is. "He 
that believeth on the Son hath" (now) 
" everlasting life." 

I feel so thankful for the communion of 
saints, that blessed fellowship which consists 
in. the sanctifying and blending together of 
spirits consecrated here around communion 
altars, in congregations, and in actual wor- 
ship, and around family altars. That is a 
communion which goes on forever. When 
death doth separate true friends in Christ it 
is but a seeming separation ; it is but a lift- 
ing up into a higher fellowship of mental 
and Christian communion, and hence, my 
friends, I think it is perfectly in plaoe to 
call attention to this strongly marked side 
of Dr. Higbee's character, this endearing, 
hopeful side. He had a wonderful faith, 
the trust and faith of a little child, and it 
used to lift me up when I heard him speak 



DR. E. E. HIGBEE: IN LOVING REMEMBRANCE. 



— this grand man, with his magnificent tal- 
ents, talked so humbly, so unpretendingly, 
just like a little child. 

When Dr. Alexander died, an old friend 
said that it always seemed to him when he 
heard Dr. Alexander speak that there was a 
reservation of material in him which was still 
better than the good things he said. I 
always felt when I heard Dr. Higbee preach 
that back of all there was something, one- 
tenth of which he had not told us. So 
strong, yet so humble ; such a fine classical 
scholar, yet never telling anybody about it. 
If you started him quoting poetry, discuss- 
ing ancient or modern literature, what a 
grand fund he had ! what masterly readi- 
ness to dip out of any part of history or lit- 
erature just such things as were needed ! 
His knowledge of the Scriptures, his study 
of literature — all these mental acquirements 
— do they lie dead and buried under that 
coffin-lid ? His brain has ceased from toil, 
it is true, but there is something better than 
all this ; his soul has passed beyond its late 
environment, and now that he has gone 
higher, his mental and spiritual enjoyments 
are infinitely enhanced. 

I bless God for the life of such an earnest 
Christian worker ; I thank God for what he 
was to me — that I have known Dr. Higbee! 
I remember when I first saw him, coming 
from the University of Vermont, about the 
year 1850, a timid, bashful young man — 
though up there he had taken the first 
honors, and was considered a young man of 
unusual brilliancy. All through life he 
seemed to be so timid about his accomplish- 
ments ! yet how he lifted himself into the 
affections, even the faith, of thousands and 
tens of thousands of people ! 

To the Christian, death is a promotion. 
To the eye of the natural man it is a crush- 
ing experience ; to the eye of the spiritual 
man it is but the cessation of material visi- 
bility, the burying of the body out of our 
sight. In the more perfect life above, much 
that now seems dark and unintelligible 
shall be made clear to us, and the final part- 
ing from the cold remains of our dear ones 
shall be changed into the joy of endless re- 
union with their glorified being. There 
"God shall wipe away all tears from their 
eyes; and there shall be no more death, 
neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall 
there be any more pain : for the former 
things are passed away." 

I bless God that this man believed in the 
Holy Ghost, in the Holy Catholic Church, 
the communion and undying fellowship of 
saints, and in the life everlasting. Amen. 



On Tuesday morning the concluding 
funeral services were held in the Church 
of the Incarnation at Emmitsburg, Mary- 
land. These services were under the charge 
of the pastor of the church, Rev. U. H. 
Heilman. A large number of ministers and 
friends were present. After the antiphonal 
use of the ninetieth Psalm, the usual Scrip- 
ture lesson was read, and prayer offered. 
Rev. Dr. J. M. Titzel, of Lancaster, then 
addressed those present as follows: 

We are here this morning, dearly beloved, 
under very sad circumstances. A loving 
husband, an affectionate father, a devoted 
brother, a true and warm hearted friend, 
one eminent both in the Church and in the 
State, has been suddenly stricken down by 
the remorseless hand of death, and we have 
come together to pay the last rites of earth 
to his lifeless remains. Henceforth we shall 
greatly miss his genial smile, his kind words, 
his wise counsels, his profound thought, and 
his inspiring presence. And these will be 
missed not only by those of us here present, 
but also by hundreds and thousands of others 
with whom he was more or less intimately 
associated in the various spheres of life in 
which he moved. For Dr. Higbee was no 
ordinary man, and his noble qualities of 
mind and heart greatly endeared him to all 
who became truly acquainted with him. 

His talents were, indeed, of a very high 
order, his culture superior and varied, and 
his scholarship thorough and extensive. In 
conversation, and as a public speaker, he 
was possessed of unusual brilliancy of thought 
and utterance, and always made a marked 
impression on the minds of those whom he 
addressed. I well remember how, thirty- 
seven years ago, when I first met him, his 
genial, winning manner and sparkling wit 
captivated me; and I can truly say that in 
the intimate relations which have existed be- 
tween us from that time on, to listen to his 
words has always been tome an inspiration. 

As an instructor of young men he exerted 
a wonderful influence over his pupils. He 
was able not only to instil into their minds 
his thoughts, but even to lead them uncon- 
sciously to imitate his manner of speaking. 
So much so was this the case, that, as re- 
gards the ministers of the Reformed Church, 
it is not difficult to tell almost at once those 
who received their classical and theological 
training under his guidance. And in this 
fact I feel we have a very striking evidence 
of the greatness of his intellectual power. 
Only very superior minds are able thus to 
mold those who come under their instruc- 
tion. 



HIS I AST VISIT TO EMM ITS BURG. 



In a proclamation issued by the Gover- 
nor of Pennsylvania on the day on which 
the deceased departed this life, a high trib- 
ute is paid to him as a man and as a public 
officer. This tribute, however, is none too 
high. Even more might have been said 
without any exaggeration of his merits as 
Superintendent ot Public Instruction. For 
in his administration of the affairs of the 
office intrusted to him, he never lost sight of 
the highest interests of humanity. 

But Dr. Higbee was more than a highly 
gifted and brilliant man, an able and suc- 
cessful instructor, and a painstaking and 
faithful officer of the State. He was also an 
earnest and humble follower of the meek 
and lowly Jesus ; one who had truly " set his 
affections on things above, not on things on 
the earth." This showed itself not only in 
his choosing as his life's work the Christian 
ministry, but also in the delight which he 
always took in the services of the sanctuary, 
whether conducted by himself or others. 

During the later years of his life, in which 
he was not regularly engaged in the work 
of the ministry, because duty seemed clearly 
to call him to labor in a different yet kin- 
dred sphere of activity, he was nevertheless 
always a faithful attendant at church on the 
Lord's day. His seat in the First Re- 
formed Church of Lancaster, when at home 
and in good health, was never vacant either 
at the morning or evening service, unless 
circumstances called him to some other 
place of worship. He was also very often 
present at Sunday- School and at the 
Wednesday evening service. There are 
those, I am sorry to say, who would have 
men believe that no special benefit is to be 
derived from the ordinary services of the 
sanctuary, and who therefore neglect them. 
But such was not the opinion of our highly 
educated and gifted friend. On the con- 
trary, I often heard him say that nowhere 
did he find more comfort and truer inspira- 
tion than in God's house. Here he be- 
lieved all that was best and most desirable 
for man could alone be found, and here 
therefore he sought it, and we know that he 
sought it not in vain. 

The depth and reality of his Christian 
life was also very manifest in the sanctifying 
effect which the severe afflictions of the last 
few years of his life had upon him. For 
when his oldest son, just as he had reached 
the age of manhood, was called away into 
the other world, and when place seekers 
sought to injure his fair name, it only 
brought him into closer communion with 
Christ. As gold is tried by fire, so afflic- 



tion only revealed more fully his trust in 
God and His only-begotten Son. Like the 
Apostle Paul, he more and more counted 
"all things but loss for the excellency of the 
knowledge of Christ Jesus his Lord." 

Therefore, while we mourn his loss, we 
sorrow not even as others which have no 
hope. St. Paul in writing to the Philippians 
says: "For me to live is Christ, and to 
die is gain." And this is true in the case 
of all who love the Lord. To all such it is 
gain to die, because to die is to depart and 
be with Christ, which is far better than to 
remain here in the flesh. Now we feel as- 
sured that to our deceased brother it was 
Christ to live. Consequently death could 
do him no harm. It only freed him from 
the cares and troubles of earth, and opened 
to him the gates of everlasting glory. May 
God help each one of us to realize this com- 
fort, and so to live that when the summons 
comes to us to depart hence, we also may 
enter into rest and be with Jesus. Then 
will our present affliction work out for us 
only a far more exceeding and eternal 
weight of glory. Amen. 

Dr. Titzel was followed by the Rev. W. 
E. Krebs, who spoke of the deceased as a 
Christian minister, a Christian workman, 
and a Christian friend, whose influence 
would extend through coming ages. Prayer 
was then again offered, after which the body 
was taken to Mountain View Cemetery and 
committed to the tomb by Rev. Dr. Titzel, 
who, at the conclusion of the services, also 
pronounced the Apostolic benediction. 



It may be of interest to note in this con- 
nection that Dr. Higbee preached his first 
sermon in the church in which the funeral 
services were held in Lancaster, while em- 
ployed there as teacher in the Boys' High 
School. His last sermon was preached in the 
church at Emmittsburg, October 13, 1889, 
his subject being the Communion of Saints. 

This church at Emmittsburg was es- 
pecially dear to him. Here he had often 
preached, and he frequently came to this 
place on Saturday evening, so that here he 
might again worship with his old friends and 
relatives. His last address to a Sunday- 
school was in this little church, on December 
1st, the first Sunday in Advent. He spoke 
to the children of its being Advent Sunday ; 
questioned them about Zacharias, Elisabeth 
and Mary, then said to them: " Some per- 
sons think we would get tired going over 
the church year round and round, year after 
year; but we don't go round and round in a 
ring ; it is rather such a circle as the eagle 



26 



DR. E. E. NIG BEE: IN LOVING REMEMBRANCE. 



makes, soaring higher and higher. Each 
year we come back to Advent, because we 
are not yet ready for the coming of the 
Lord, and each year we must rise higher and 
higher. There may be few more Christ- 
mases for some of us — for some this may be 
the last — but for us all, if we will, there 
will come the glorious Advent, and we will 
celebrate it up there" — pointing upwards 
with both hands and gently smiling as he 
spoke. 

"I am not sure," said one, describing the 
scene, "that this is exactly what he said or 
all he said; but it hurt me to hear him say, 
'There may be few more Christmases for 
some of us,' for I knew that he referred to 
himself — and I could not think that must be ! 
I always told him that he shouldn't die as 
long as we lived, that we couldn't get along 
without him — his visits here were such 
gleams of brightness to us all ! I find myself 
saying over and over, ' Nevermore ! Never- 
more/' But oh! he is so much better off!" 



IN SIMPLICITY OF TRUTH. 

A private letter that we have seen, written 
on the evening of the day of the funeral by 
one lady to another, without thought of 
publication, so well expresses the general 
feeling that we have obtained permission to 
quote as follows : 

To-day at Dr. Higbee's funeral service in 
the Reformed Church I thought of you, 
knowing you are one of many whose hearts 
mourn the loss of that great, good man. 
One of the hymns used in the service was 
written by the Doctor himself. It was sung 
to the tune he liked best for it, and in addi- 
tion the thought in it seemed to lay bare 
some of his own experience. While they 
sang it my heart was wrung with sympathy 
for his family, so evidently stricken with 
grief. The sermon was preached by Dr. 
Apple, late President of Franklin and Mar- 
shall College, an able and learned man, 
who has known Dr. H. ever since his com- 
ing into Pennsylvania, and it was a fine 
tribute to his memory — so earnest and above 
all so sincere. Governor Beaver was present, 
and Dr. Apple referred to his official notice 
of the Doctor's death with so much feeling 
and taste, I felt, as I looked at him from 
the gallery, that the Governor must be 
gratified. 

There were two other short discourses, 
one by Dr. Gerhart, of the German Re- 
formed Seminary, and the other by Dr. 
Bausman, of Reading, both of whom dwelt 
upon the child-like faith and the lovely 
character of their beloved friend, adviser, 



leader. Mr. B. broke out once with such 
an earnest, '/ thank God I knew him!' 

that it thrilled me ; and Mary , as she 

sat here to-night with tears raining down 
her face, talking of the Doctor and of this 
most beautiful service, said, when he re- 
marked that after conversation with Dr. 
Higbee he felt his influence in every fibre of 
his being, she felt that he spoke as Dr. Hig- 
bee did, and with a like influence upon his 
hearers. 

I was struck with the fact that these able 
men — all of them men of " affairs," I sup- 
pose — seemed to feel that his love and faith 
and self-sacrifice were all that was worth 
dwelling upon — at least all the witness ot 
him they wanted to bear. Everything was 
said in the very simplicity of truth and 
feeling, and it seemed tome the most beau- 
tiful tribute to a good man I had ever 
heard. 



MEMORIAL SESSION. 



PENNSYLVANIA STATE TEACHERS ASSOCIA- 
TION AT MAUCH CHUNK. 



THE Memorial Session of the Pennsyl- 
vania State Teachers' Association in 
honor of the late State Superintendent, Dr. 
E. E. Higbee, was the order for Wednesday 
morning, July 9th, 1890. 

The devotional exercises were led by 
Rev. M. A. Tolman, Rector of St. Mark's 
P. E. Church, who read the following most 
appropriate Scripture selection from the 
44th chapter of Ecclesiasticus: 

Let us now praise famous men, and our 
fathers that begat us. 

The Lord hath wrought great glory by them 
through his great power from the beginning. 

Such as did bear rule in their kingdoms, men 
renowned for their power, giving counsel by 
their understanding, and declaring prophecies: 

Leaders of the people by their counsels, and 
by their knowledge of learning meet for the 
people, wise and eloquent in their instructions: 

Such as found out musical tunes, and recited 
verses in writing : 

Rich men furnished with ability, living 
peaceably in their habitation : 

All these were honored in their generations, 
and were the glory of their times. 

There be of them that have left a name be- 
hind them, that their praises might be reported. 

And some there be which have no memorial; 
who are perished, as though they had never 
been born; and their children after them. 

But these were merciful men whose right- 
eousness hath not been forgotten. 

With their seed shall continually remain a 
good inheritance, and their children are within 
the covenant. 



DEBT OF GRATITUDE TO VERMONT 



Their seed standeth fast, and their children 
for their sakes. 

Their seed shall remain forever, and their 
glory shall not be blotted out. 

Their bodies are buried in peace; but their 
name liveth forever more. 

The people will tell of their wisdom, and the 
congregation will show forth their praise. 

The President announced that ex Gover- 
nor Hoyt had been prevented by sickness in 
his family from preparing the Memorial 
Address, which duty had therefore been 
assigned to State Superintendent D. J. 
Waller, Jr., who spoke as follows: 

MEMORIAL ADDRESS. 

The President of this Association at its 
last annual meeting, Elnathan Elisha Hig- 
bee, D. D., LL.D., Superintendent of Public 
Instruction, was taken from this life Decem- 
ber 13th, 1889. 

Though the state of his health did not 
permit him to preside for any considerable 
time over the daily sessions at Altoona, it 
was the strong hope of his friends that the 
summer vacation, and the assurance of the 
high esteem with which he was regarded 
throughout the State, would enable him to 
recover a large measure of that vigor that 
was his by inheritance. He entered upon 
the Institute work in the fall with his usual 
devotion. It proved to be too much, and 
those closely associated with him saw that 
he was daily growing feebler. At Mifflin- 
town, on Tuesday, December 10th, nature 
gave way; and on Friday, December 13th, 
he passed peacefully from earth, from the 
home of his son-in-law, Prof. Geo. F. Mull, 
in Lancaster. After impressive funeral 
services in the First Reformed church of 
Lancaster, his remains were deposited in 
the cemetery of his beloved Emmitsburg in 
Maryland. 

Dr. Higbee was born, says his brother- 
in-law, the Rev. Dr. George W. Aughin- 
baugh, to whose sketch in The Pennsylvania 
School Journal we are indebted for many of 
the following facts, in Vermont, about six 
miles from Burlington, on March 27th, 
1830. Vermont has laid education in 
Pennsylvania under lasting obligations. She 
gave us that champion of equal rights who, 
at a crisis in our educational history, pre- 
vented the repeal of the school law and 
preserved the system of public instruction 
to this State, Thaddeus Stevens. Without 
him we know not how many years we would 
now be behind our present position. To 
Vermont also are we indebted for him whom 
we commemorate to-day. 

Dr. Higbee was the youngest of a family 



of eight sons and two daughters, six of whom 
survive him. His father was a noble speci- 
men of New England manhood. He was 
at one time a member of the Legislature, 
and was possessed of a homestead that was 
"quite an imposing farmhouse in its day, 
very eligibly situated on a gentle rise some 
distance from the highway, and handsomely 
set off by its broad natural lawns." Here 
Elnathan is believed to have been born, and 
to have passed an uneventful childhood. 

If he spent four years in college he must 
have entered at the age of fifteen, for he 
graduated with honor from the University 
of Vermont in 1S49. As a boy he was full 
of energy and excelled in all out-door 
sports. "He was a natural born athlete." 
Though only sixteen when he taught his 
first school, he easily outstripped the most 
active and stalwart of his boys. "He could 
run faster, jump higher, knock a ball or 
kick a foot-ball further, than any of the 
rest. As a skater he was fleet as the wind, 
and as alert, nimble, and agile as seems 
possible to any master of the art." He 
was consequently a hero to his pupils on 
the play-ground. In the school room his 
brilliant intellectual powers, and his tact in 
management, made him no less an object of 
admiration. It is said that while he was a 
martinet in school discipline, he was seldom 
known to resort to other measures than 
those of moral suasion. It is not the least 
remarkable fact in this sketch, that the 
attempt to portray the boy results thus in 
the view of a school-teacher. 

After graduating from the University of 
Vermont, young Higbee was induced to 
take charge, for a year, of the mathematical 
and classical departments of a select school 
conducted by his brother-in-law, Dr. Augh- 
inbaugh, in Emmitsburg, Maryland. While 
teaching he began the study of the law, 
with the purpose of practising in Vermont. 

It was at this time that he made a public 
profession of his faith in Christ. After a 
year as a private tutor in Emmitsburg, he 
entered the Theological Seminary of the 
Reformed Church at Mercersburg, then 
including Drs. Nevin and Schaff in its fac- 
ulty. Upon the completion of his seminary 
course he became teacher of mathematics in 
the High School of Lancaster. In 1854, 
five years after his graduation from the 
University, he was licensed to preach the 
gospel by the Maryland Classis of the Re- 
formed Church. His first field of ministerial 
labor was in the Congregational Church of 
Bethel, Vt. After laboring there a few 
years, he returned to Emmitsburg as a sup- 



28 



DR. E. E. HIGBEE : IN LO VING REMEMBRANCE. 



ply to the Reformed Church, but soon 
became pastor of the First Reformed Church 
of Tiffin, Ohio. Here he was elected Pro- 
fessor of Latin and Greek in Heidelberg 
College. Grace Reformed Church, Pitts- 
burgh, next enjoyed his ministrations for a 
few years, whence he was called, in 1864, to 
the chair of Church History and New Tes- 
tament Exegesis, occupied by Dr. Philip 
Schaff, in the Theological Seminary at 
Mercersburg, where he had graduated. 
"Here," says Professor Kerschner, "eight 
delightful years of my friend's life passed 
away." 

When in 187 1 the Seminary was removed 
to Lancaster, Dr. Higbee resigned the chair 
he had so ably and acceptably filled, and 
became President of Mercersburg College, 
holding the position until 1880. His pas- 
toral labors covered a period of ten years. 
The sixteen years following of educational 
work at Mercersburg, spent so quietly that 
the world knew little of him who labored 
there, were, like those of Moses in Horeb, 
years of quiet preparation made unwittingly 
for a wide field of great activity. There in 
the chair of Church History and New Tes- 
tament Exegesis, he made the acquaintance 
of the great theologians, ecclesiastics, and 
statesmen of past ages, for to him these 
men lived again ; and in their companion- 
ship his wonderful mind found congenial 
spirits and converse upon highest themes in 
state-craft and religion. 

As President of Mercersburg College he 
passed from the contemplative to the active 
sphere, from the legislative and judicial 
habit to the executive. Dr. Kerschner says 
of that period: "His labors were vastly 
increased ; his anxieties were endless ; his 
remuneration was smaller ; the discipline of 
the college, no light burden when faithfully 
discharged, rested mainly upon him; he was 
a committee of ways and means where such 
seemed not to exist ; his duties were often 
harassing, always incessant." During this 
time he taught classes in Psychology, Logic, 
^Esthetics, Ethics and the History of Phil- 
osophy, and gave special attention to the 
Philosophy of History and the Theory of 
Education. "But the chapel was the scene 
of Dr. Higbee's severest labors, of his 
dearest joys, and of his noblest spiritual 
victories." 

Thus was he prepared to cope with men 
and grasp the issues presented in his bril- 
liant though short administration of the 
Department of Public Instruction, which he 
began in his fifty-first year. This Associa- 
tion knew him as the head of the Depart- 



ment of Public Instruction, as a scholar, 
and as a man. Dr. Higbee was appointed 
by Governor Hoyt to take charge of this 
Department at a time when peculiar tal- 
ents were needed. Burrowes and Hickok 
and others had devised the system, wonder- 
ful in its adaptation to the diverse conditions 
of the several parts of the State, in its 
balance of centralization with local control; 
and Wickersham with singular executive 
ability had compacted it. What the State 
needed was to be aroused to employ the 
means at hand. To this task Dr. Higbee 
applied himself. He personally inspected 
the State from end to end, He penetrated 
the remotest corners, and sometimes spent 
weeks with superintendents, holding meet- 
ings night after night in country districts. 

By his scholarly presence and wise coun- 
sels, by his self-sacrificing spirit and con- 
suming zeal, in cities, in boroughs, and in 
whole counties, he aroused and directed the 
energies of school officers and of the public. 
He was not a worshipper of system. System 
with him was not an end but a means. He 
deeply impressed upon his hearers that the 
children were not for the schools, but the 
schools for the children. He always insisted 
upon regard for the individual while dealing 
with masses of children. He demanded for 
each child the buildings, the grounds, the 
appliances, and the teachers, that were 
needed to develop the physical, intellectual, 
moral, religious, and aesthetic nature of the 
child. 

How well he did this work let the result 
show. Never before was there in Pennsylva- 
nia a more wide-spread, earnest, substantial 
support of public instruction than there is 
to-day. School-houses have been trans- 
formed. Instead of being the shame, they 
are now often the pride of the community. 
It has become the rule in cities and boroughs 
that the school-houses are among the largest 
and most elegant buildings. The expendi- 
tures upon school property were one million 
dollars in 1881, and in 1889 two millions, 
an increase of one hundred per cent. The 
amount devoted to public instruction in- 
creased from $7,300,000 in 1881, to $12,- 
000,000 in 1889, an increase of over sixty 
per cent. The aid granted by the Legisla- 
ture, in the State appropriation, increased 
one hundred per cent. Teachers were en- 
couraged to attend the County Institute 
by receiving pay for their time spent 
there ; uniformity in the school month was 
effected throughout the State ; and twenty 
per cent, was added to the length of the 
school year. 



CENTRAL FEATURE IN OUR MEMORIES. 



Another service rendered by Superintend- 
ent Higbee was that of allaying the antag- 
onism between those engaged in collegiate 
or academic teaching and those in the public 
schools; though he did not succeed in 
realizing his hope of uniting these in one 
organic system. 

But the memory that is strongest, clearest, 
and dearest to-day is that of the scholarly 
man. It is said that Leibnitz was the last 
man to compass the learning of his own 
times. The several departments have since 
grown to such proportions that no one can 
hope to master some single ones, much less 
all. It is unusual to find one with a taste 
or talents for more than one or two. But 
Dr. Schaeffer has tersely described his schol- 
arly attainments as follows: "His scholarship 
was accurate and varied. He was a linguist, 
a mathematician, a scientist, a poet, a histor- 
ian, a philosopher and a theologian, all com- 
bined in one." From these diverse regions 
of thought the flora seemed to him equally 
familiar. Perhaps the range of his thought 
cannot be better expressed than by calling 
attention to the fact that while eminent as a 
mathematician, some of his hymns, already 
in the hymn books, will perpetuate his name 
as a poet. 

But even this brilliancy of his scholarship 
is to-day only an accessory, not the central 
feature in our memories. It is the man we 
remember. There is scarcely an attractive 
trait of manhood that was not strong in him. 
Wonderful in intellect yet guileless, coura- 
geous yet tender and child-like, determined 
yet unselfish, untiring in labor yet always 
with leisure for others, the eulogy upon 
Brutus is far more appropriate to him : 

His life was gentle ; and the elements 

So mixed in him that Nature might stand up 

And say to all the world, " This was a man !" 

We are left in no uncertainty as to the 
spirit that inspired him. The ideal ever 
before him was no other than Jesus of 
Nazareth ; and this fact is beautifully 
expressed by him in the following hymn, 
which is already in the hymn-books of the 
Christian Church : 

Jesus, o'er the grave victorious, 

Conquering death and conquering hell, 
Reign Thou in Thy might all glorious, 

Heaven and earth Thy triumph swell. 
Saints in Thee approach the Father 

Asking in Thy name alone; 
He in Thee, with love increasing, 

Gives and glorifies the Son. 

Down to earth in all its darkness 
From the Father Thou didst come : 



Seeking sinners in their blindness, 

Calling earth's poor exiles home ; 
By a life of love and labor 

Doing all the Father's will; 
Giving to each suppliant sufferer 

Precious balm for every ill. 
Patient ever in well-doing, 

Moving on in steps of blood, 
Through the grave to heights of glory, 

Reconciling us with God. 
Here in Thee is peace forever ; 

We can tribulation bear, 
Kiss Thy cross, with rapture knowing 

Thou hast conquered suffering there. 

Deputy Supt. Henry Houck said that, 
while his preference would be to keep silence 
on this solemn occasion, he could not refuse 
to say a word when called upon, in memory 
of the distinguished leader we have lost. 
Dr. Higbee was a man who was admired and 
loved by all who knew him. Perhaps no- 
where in this country was there a State Sup- 
erintendent who was his equal in scholarship. 
He had served with him for nearly nine 
years, and could not have known him better 
had they been companions from childhood. 
They had traveled together, roomed to- 
gether, worked together, all over the Com- 
monwealth. Not only was he a prince upon 
the platform, but on the social side — every- 
where he went his fine social qualities made 
him friends. 

Of him, if of any man, it may be said, he 
died with the harness on. He could not be 
induced to take the rest that we all saw he 
needed, and his dying hand was on the rud- 
der of the ship. Once at Pittsburgh, when 
he had just returned from California, on a 
hot June evening, he heard the bell of Grace 
Church sound for evening service. "There's 
my bell," he said. "We must go !" — and we 
went. It was easy to judge the man as you 
saw the people gather round him. The 
young minister insisted on his preaching, 
and would take no denial ; and there, with- 
out preparation, he made one of the most 
eloquent addresses I have ever heard. That 
was the first time I heard him speak : the last 
time was at Norristown, where he addressed 
a large audience in the opera house. There 
are others here who heard that eloquent plea 
for the cause dear to his heart — the proper 
care of the child at home and at school. 
Afterwards he spoke to the Directors on the 
proper use of the enlarged State appropria- 
tion—in compensating the hard-working 
teachers. What a scholar he was ! He 
would talk Shakespeare by the hour — he read 
Greek and Latin as we read the newspaper — 
mathematics, music, everywhere — no subject 
came up for discussion that was not illumin- 



3° 



DR. E. E. BIG BEE: IN LOVING REMEMBRANCE. 



ated and adorned by the splendid scholar- 
ship of the man. 

But, after all, it is as a friend we feel our 
loss most deeply. Every one he met, from 
the learned doctor to the poor teacher in a 
little mountain school, received the same 
warm grasp of the hand that told us his 
warm heart was in the common work. All 
over the State he went, pleading for larger 
appropriation and longer term; and in both 
he was successful, largely by his personal 
power. It was hard to realize when we par- 
ticipated in his funeral service, that we 
should see his face in this life no more. But 
Dr. Higbee is not dead — even here his life 
goes on in the influence exerted by his vir- 
tues; and we know it shall bloom in immor- 
tality beyond the grave. At rest after un- 
told troubles and trials patiently and cheer- 
fully borne, well might we sing, 

Asleep in Jesus — blessed sleep ! 
From which none ever wake to weep : 
A calm and undisturbed repose, 
Unbroken by the last of foes. 

Dr. Edward Brooks said that he had 
not expected to speak, and had therefore 
not made the special preparation that would 
have been fitting for so impressive and 
touching an occasion. Ten years ago, the 
name of Dr. Higbee was not known in 
Pennsylvania, outside his personal and 
theological circle : to-day, and for the last 
few months, no name has been more fre- 
quently heard in this Commonwealth. And 
his fame has gone forth into educational 
circles throughout the land ; at St. Paul, 
where the National Association has brought 
together 15,000 teachers, the representatives 
of our highest thought took leading parts in 
the memorial service, and eulogized their 
departed friend. How do we account for 
this impressive, almost marvelous fact ? 
The paper has well answered the question, 
in its delineation of the fine social, intellect- 
ual, and spiritual qualities of the man. His 
death, and these commemorative observ- 
ances, are to me doubly touching, since I 
regard him as a martyr in a double sense ; 
first, because he gave himself unreservedly, 
unstintingly, to his work, unheeding the 
need of rest and the cautions of friends ; and 
second, because in addition to the burdens 
of his post and the grief at the loss of an 
idolized son, he was subjected to an unjust 
persecution, which I will not here stigmatize 
as I feel it deserves, and but for which I be- 
lieve we might to-day have had our friend 
in personal presence, instead of a sacred 
memory. The attack at which thick-skinned 
politicians might laugh, strikes a refined, 



sensitive nature like a blow ; and from this 
accumulation of troubles he never recovered. 

Dr. Higbee was a surprise to Pennsyl- 
vania when appointed. Wickersham had 
devoted so many years, such wisdom and 
energy, and with such success, to the work 
that it seemed strange he should not be his 
own successor ■; more strange, that his suc- 
cessor should be one unknown to the com- 
mon school men ; and still more strange, 
that he should be a man whose associa- 
tions had kept him out of touch with us, — 
if not antagonistic, certainly not in sym- 
pathy. But the wonder was greater 
when we came to know him, and see him 
discharging his duties. " None named him 
but to praise." He touched the heart of 
the educational body, and the pulse of the 
educational sentiment, as no man had done 
before. He did more to uplift the profes- 
sion of teaching than any of his predeces- 
sors. His work was the complement of 
theirs. Burrowes had given shape to legis- 
lation — Wickersham had consolidated the 
system with an executive ability that no 
other could have supplied — it was left for 
Higbee to touch the heart, with a personal 
power and inspiration that no one else pos- 
sessed. Each of these men came to the 
front when needed — all did their work 
nobly. Educational movements are rhythmi- 
cal — now science, now theology, is on the 
topmost wave ; the tendency of to-day is 
toward materialism, especially among the 
great thinkers of the German universities. 
Dr. Higbee set his face against the error of 
carrying all education down to the level of 
sense-perception, and taught that we must 
unsense the mind. Then as a Christian 
man he threw into his work an immense 
uplifting influence from the spiritual side. 
In view of the splendid tributes to his mem- 
ory in the Memorial Number of The Penn- 
sylvania School Journal, and its noble 
vindication in the great meeting at St. Paul, 
no one will envy the feelings of those who 
tried to crush him. 

Deputy Supt. J. Q. Stewart: The As- 
sociation honors itself in paying this tribute 
to Dr. Higbee. At Washington in 1881 he 
first met with this body. He was filled with 
admiration at the work he saw done, and 
the men engaged in it. Modest, retiring, 
humble as he always was, we soon found in 
him a wise counsellor and an able leader. 
Year after year he became a more and more 
potent factor in shaping our work; year by 
year, as has been said, he grew in favor not 
only in his own State, but among educators 
all over the Union. His election by accla- 



THE GREAT MAN WHO THUS INSPIRED US: 



3' 



mation at Scranton to the Presidency of 
this body gave him much pleasure. His 
value was recognized by the National As- 
sociation when it met on the Pacific coast, 
where he was placed upon important com- 
mittees, and his counsels were effective in 
broadening the work. He came home full 
of enthusiasm, and the correspondence that 
followed showed the impression he had 
made — everywhere Dr. Higbee was wanted. 
Last year he preferred to remain in Pennsyl- 
vania for our convention — as it proved for 
the last time. I shall always remember him 
as a friend, and as one who aimed to follow 
in the footsteps of the Great Master. 

The hymn,. " Thy glory Thou didst mani- 
fest," written by Dr. Higbee while at Mer- 
cersburg, was then sung. 

Dr. G. M. Philips: What I might have 
said has been better said by others, but I 
will say a word in memory of one I had 
learned to hold dear. It is true we have 
known Dr. Higbee but ten years, but the 
work of his life was not done in that time. 
The best of it, perhaps, was done as pro- 
fessor in that small college which many of 
us never heard of till we knew it in connec- 
tion with him. There is too much depreci- 
ation of small colleges ; many a man does a 
noble life-work there, and so it was with 
our friend. Not only did his influence go 
abroad with his pupils, but it was there he 
laid the foundations of that broad culture 
which surprised us afterward — that wide 
scholarship which made a man not brought 
up in the common school, when he came to 
know it, not only a peer among its friends, 
but a leader. Back there in the little 
college the work was done that, when the 
opportunity came, made the man equal to 
the occasion. To me personally he was as 
an elder brother, a father ; and I knew him 
only to respect and love him. 

Dr. E. O. Lyte : A great man has fallen at 
his post. Perhaps we in the Normal School 
work realize more keenly than any one else 
the wonderful scholarship of the man — his 
familiarity with every branch of learning. It 
is hard to overestimate his influence in build- 
ing up and raising the standard of our work. 
When Dr. Higbee entered the common 
school work he was a surprise to us, as has 
been said, in many ways; to me he stands 
forth most prominently as a Christian man 
— one of the best products of Christian re- 
ligion and Christian scholarship. Along 
this line his influence was widely felt. At 
San Francisco his work was impressive, his 
words were full of wisdom and life. We, 
who know him best, know that his public 



life was as blameless as his private, and that 
both were without a flaw. If he had a fault, 
it was that he was too pure himself to rate 
at its deserving the impurity of the world 
around him. Even if his name should be 
forgotten, the impress of his life will remain 
in the schools of the State and the Nation. 

Rev. W. W. Deatrick: I cannot do 
justice to my dear departed teacher, nor to 
the veneration I feel for him; but I must 
not lose the opportunity of adding a word 
to the appreciative tributes of his co- 
laborers. God has been good to me — the 
years of my life have been pleasant — but the 
happiest of them were the six I spent in that 
little, obscure college, whose few students 
and graduates enjoyed the exceptional 
privilege of sitting at the feet of such a 
master. His influence on the schools has 
been referred to — it will be long felt in stiH 
another way. Laboring there in comparative 
obscurity, what inspiration he breathed into 
many a young man for educational work ! 
On this line I believe his influence was 
equal, if not superior, to that of Dr. Arnold. 
What a blessed thing it is to be in a small 
college with such a man as this ! As Gar- 
field said, "Give me a log school-house, 
with a slab bench, with Mark Hopkins at 
one end and myself at the other, and it will 
be university enough for me" — so say we 
of our departed friend. His high and holy 
influence has borne fruit in a contempt of 
shams, and in appreciation of all that is grand 
and noble — the true, the beautiful, the 
good. He filled our souls with love for all 
these ; and best of all, he taught us and 
made us feel that without the knowledge of 
the blessed Master all other knowledge is 
but little worth — that " the wisdom from 
above is without price." All honor to the 
great man who thus inspired us ! May his 
memory live long among us, not only as an 
administrative officer, but in the hearts and 
lives of those who sat at his feet ! 

Miss Elizabeth Lloyd : I feel it right 
that a woman should lay a flower upon the 
bier of one who all his life showed manly 
courtesy to every one worthy to bear the 
name of woman. To many of the other 
traits of his character that have been men- 
tioned, I might add my testimony; but I 
wished to say that from the first moment I 
knew Dr. Higbee, I recognized and appre- 
ciated his unfailing courtesy to women — not 
the outside shell of mere politeness or empty 
compliment, but the true manly chivalry 
that recognized and honored on all occa- 
sions the strength and the dignity of wo- 
manhood. 



32 



DR. E. E. HIGBEE: IN LOVING REMEMBRANCE. 



Mr. J. P. McCaskey was the last speaker 
on this impressive occasion. He read an 
appropriate extract from the Stories of 
King Arthur, and spoke much as follows : 

" I made a vow aforetime that in Joyeuse 
Garde I would be buried," said Sir Launcelot. 
Then there was weeping and wringing of hands 
among his fellows. And that night Sir Launce- 
lot died ; and when Sir Bohort and his fellows 
came to his bedside the next morning, they 
found him stark dead ; and he lay as if he had 
smiled, and the sweetest savor all about him 
that ever they knew. 

And they put Sir Launcelot into the same 
bier that Queen Guenevere was laid in, and the 
hermit and they all together went with the body 
till they came to Joyeuse Garde. And there they 
laid his corpse in the body of the quire, and 
sang and read many psalms and prayers over 
him. And ever his visage was laid open and 
naked that all folks might behold him. And 
right thus, as they were at their service, there 
came Sir Hector de Maris, that had seven 
years sought Sir Launcelot his brother, through 
all England, Scotland, and Wales. And when 
Sir Hector heard such sounds in the chapel of 
Joyeuse Garde, he alighted and came into the 
quire. And they all knew Sir Hector. Then 
went Sir Bohort and told him how there lay Sir 
Launcelot, his brother, dead. Then Sir Hector 
threw his shield, his sword, and his helm from 
him. And when he beheld Sir Launcelot's 
visage, it were hard for any tongue to tell the 
doleful complaints he made for his brother. 

"Ah, Sir Launcelot!" he said, " there thou 
liest. And now I dare to say that thou wert 
the courteousest knight that ever bare shield ; 
and thou wert the truest friend to thy lover that 
ever bestrode horse ; and thou wert the truest 
lover, of a sinful man, that ever loved woman ; 
and thou wert the kindest man that ever struck 
with sword ; and thou wert the goodliest person 
that ever came among press of knights ; and 
thou wert the meekest man, and the gentlest, 
that ever ate in hall among ladies; and thou 
wert the sternest knight to thy mortal foe that 
ever put spear in the rest." Then there was 
weeping and dolor out of measure. Thus they 
kept Sir Launcelot's corpse fifteen days, and 
then they buried it with great devotion. 

I read thus far from the quaint tales of the 
Knights of King Arthur. For hundreds of 
years men's hearts have thrilled to this 
passionate outburst of Sir Hector, whose 
love stopped not at any word of praise — 
now alas ! spoken in the ear of death. 
Ah, Sir Launcelot ! Again dost thou lie in 
the "quire of Joyeuse Garde," all about 
thee the voice of honest sorrow. Again, 
heroic knight of more than the Round 
Table, do we bury thee "with great devo- 
tion." Other Sir Hectors, because they 
knew thee well, rated thee truly, owed thee 
much, loved thee tenderly, speak in thy 
praise — "out of measure" also, it may be 



- but who hath quarrel with the eloquence of 
such affection ! That men should care to 
speak thus — that is the supremest tribute to 
human worth. This Sir Launcelot, we say, 
alas, is dead ! where among all men whom 
we knew lives another? 

What do those most competent to decide 
say of Dr. Higbee — profound thinkers, 
eminent scholars, earnest toilers, sympa- 
thetic souls? They have spoken, and in 
words of no uncertain sound. Permit me 
to read some earnest tributes, from very 
many that have been spoken, to the worth 
and work of the man whom we honor to- 
day, that may not have been seen or heard 
by the larger part of those who are here 
assembled. 

The foremost man in the educational 
work in this country, Dr. Wm. T. Harris, 
U. S. Commissioner of Education, says of 
him : "I had known of him before he be- 
came State Superintendent as a broad and 
generous-minded scholar, who recognized 
whatever was doing in the way of improving 
human thought and human deeds in all 
parts of the world. I had occasion during 
his superintendency of schools to admire his 
ardent energy and devotion to duty. On 
receiving the news of his death I could not 
but feel that a great and shining light 
placed on a hill-top had fallen and become 
extinct to us engaged in the cause of educa- 
tion. This feeling of mine I know is uni- 
versal among American teachers and super- 
intendents." 

Prof. J. B. Kerschner, a fine classical and 
biblical scholar, who was closely associated 
with Dr. Higbee for a number of years at 
Mercersburg, in full sympathy with his work 
and a gentleman most competent to express 
an opinion, has written a memorable sketch 
of the Mercersburg period in the life of Dr. 
Higbee. (An extended extract was read 
from this paper, which is found in full else- 
where in these pages.) 

Judge Stewart, who knew him long and 
very intimately, says that from him he 
received " more valuable information on all 
the great subjects of human thought and 
speculation than from any other man " he 
has ever known. "No better man," he adds, 
" has ever occupied the position of Superin- 
tendent of Public Instruction in this or any 
other State, and the common school system 
throughout the land will, in all time, reap 
great benefit from the labors of Dr. Hig- 
bee. Yet after all it was as a preacher of 
the Gospel that he found his highest calling 
and was most successful." He regarded him 
the most interesting preacher he had ever 



HE WAS OF ALL MEN MOST VERSATILE. 



33 



heard, and he knew no other man his equal 
in scholastic attainments. 

Governor Hoyt, whose acquaintance in 
Pennsylvania is very wide, says of him : 
" Dr. Higbee was, in my opinion, the very 
best all-round scholar in the State. He 
had an honest, great, and patient soul — too 
great, indeed, to stop and even try to 
repel the pitiful injustice which was once 
attempted to be put upon him." 

Governor Beaver says of him, in a proc- 
lamation under the great seal of the 
Commonwealth: "For nearly nine years 
and by the appointment of three successive 
Governors, Dr. Higbee served the people of 
this State with singular fidelity, and purity, 
and singleness of purpose, as the honored 
head of the educational department of the 
State Government. He was a man of broad 
culture, a polished and thoughtful scholar, 
familiar alike with the treasures of ancient 
and modern thought and literature. As an 
instructor his extraordinary attainments and 
varied resources brought to him abundant 
success in every department of effort, and 
as an educator in its broadest and best 
sense, he had attained a rank among the 
first of the nation. As a public officer he 
was painstaking and conscientious; as a man 
he was pure, simple-hearted, genial, gentle, 
and kind. The teachers of the State and 
his associates in the great work of education 
loved him with a filial devotion, and the 
Commonwealth trusted him as a pure, 
noble, true, and honest man." 

We could multiply like golden tributes 
from the Memorial number of The Journal 
which was published shortly after his death, 
and from many other sources ; but we for- 
bear, however appropriate to the occasion 
these might be, and however interesting in 
this presence. 

He was not only an all-around scholar, 
but he was of all men most versatile. He 
had what Goethe has called " many-sided- 
ness " in greater degree than any other man 
we have ever known. His scholarship in 
many directions was superb, and he was a 
delightful talker upon almost any topic that 
might be suggested. But this was only a 
small part of him. He was a born artist, 
an athlete, an expert with gun and rod, an 
ardent student and lover of nature, a critic 
of music and the drama, and could have been 
an artist in either of these directions. He 
was in an extraordinary degree a born actor, 
and, with his good judgment and tireless 
energy, he might have stood, we think, 
among the few brightest stars in that pro- 
fession of unrealized possibilities for good. 



Indeed, among men he was of the rarest 
type and the very fiist rank — but modest as 
he was great. 

We say this — so at least we think — not 
in ignorance of men, but intelligently, for 
we know reasonably well the men of the 
books, and for thirty years, sparing neither 
time nor money, we have seen and heard so 
as to have personal knowledge of them, 
nearly all the foremost orators and clergy- 
men, and nearly all the great actors and 
singers that have appeared upon the Ameri- 
can stage in drama, concert, or opera. 
Philadelphia is but two hours distant from 
our home ; nearly everybody of world-wide 
reputation comes there ; the night is as 
good for quick transit as the day ; and New 
York is not far off — so that we have had 
large opportunity to hear, see, compare, 
and enjoy men and women of intellectual 
power, special gifts, and artistic culture. 
And we say it deliberately that, with this 
wide experience of the platform, the pulpit, 
and the stage, were we to make a list of the 
ten most gifted and most enjoyable people 
we have ever seen, or heard, or known — 
orators, authors, clergymen, artists, editors, 
actors, singers, composers of music or mas- 
ters of instrumentation — Dr. Higbee would 
be an honored name upon that list. 

We have often heard Rev. Henry Ward 
Beecher, regarding him the foremost pulpit 
orator of our time, in his own church in 
Brooklyn and on the platform elsewhere. We 
were in New York on the day when he was 
stricken with apoplexy, hoping to hear him 
again at Plymouth Church next morning. 
It was also a stroke of apoplexy that pre- 
vented Dr. Higbee from preaching the last 
sermon for which he was announced, and 
which also we should have been glad to 
hear. When the hour came for this service 
he lay in the majesty of death, awaiting his 
burial. These two great preachers we never 
failed to hear as we had opportunity, for 
they spoke as eloquent sons of God, who 
had " known the furnace," to toiling, suf- 
fering brother men. 

But the most powerful sermon we recall, 
of all that we have ever heard in any church, 
from any pulpit, was preached by Dr. Hig- 
bee under the pressure of the struggle, in 
those dark days when falsehood filled the 
air and calumny was busy with his honored 
name. It was the Good Friday season. 
His theme was the Mighty Sorrow — the 
crown of thorns, the cross of shame. His 
great soul seemed to realize as never before 
the weight of the awful burden borne by his 
Lord, as he toiled onward in vivid imagina- 



34 



DR. E. E. Ill G BEE: IN LOVING REMEMBRANCE. 



tion bearing the cross with his divine Master. 
Out of the depths of his loving heart, his 
vast knowledge, his rare wisdom, his kindred 
suffering — we say it reverently, his kindred 
suffering — were spoken such words as men 
seldom speak, such words as break down all 
barriers to the rushing tide of feeling, such 
graphic, burning words as thrill the hearer 
years after to recall them. 

The nervous strain of that era was tre- 
mendous, and years of his grand life, we 
verily believe, have been lost to the State 
and to the world, because of the suffering 
and physical weakness that followed upon 
that causeless attack which resulted in his 
bloodless murder. And yet as surely as 
the stones of the mob made clear to men the 
soul-beauty of the sainted Stephen, so surely 
did the stones of this latter-day mob make 
clear to the State the extraordinary charac- 
ter and merit of our departed friend. " Oh, 
Nazarene, thou hast conquered !" — so an an- 
cient story tells — was the dying exclamation 
of him who long before had unrighteously 
condemned "the good man and the just." 
An humble follower of this self-same Naza- 
rene was here unrighteously condemned. 
But look abroad over Pennsylvania. From 
his unjust judges also, and everywhere, 
comes the tacit but sure admission of their 
inglorious defeat. He too has "conquered." 
This indeed is Dr. Higbee's day of power. 

But once in our close intimacy of eight 
years or more were our relations somewhat 
strained. It was when we published an ex- 
tended article in the July No., 1887, of The 
Pennsylvania School Journal, upon " Dr. 
E. E. Higbee, Superintendent of Public In- 
struction : As those men know him who 
know him best." He never spoke with a 
shadow of immodesty of his own attain- 
ments or merits, of his desert, or of not being 
"appreciated." In this he was like the most 
gifted musician we have ever known, — him- 
self and his great ability being always about 
the last things thought of. 

We knew the article must be published in 
justice to himself in the then excited condi- 
tion of the public mind, and that if he had 
any knowledge of it he would forbid it. His 
protest, it is true, would not have prevented 
its publication, though it might for a time 
have led to some breach between us; for we 
saw clearly that it must be done. He 
had gone West without seeing that issue of 
The Journal, and we sent copies to a friend 
to be given him at the depot as he left Chi- 
cago. He was of course much annoyed, 
and did not write us at all during all the 
weeks of his absence. His too sensitive na- 



ture assumed that his friends and the State 
would regard him as sounding his own 
praises. In two or three months, however, 
this little annoyance wore away. It was but 
once referred to between us. 

It may not be out of place in this connec- 
tion to state also a fact that, to us, has al- 
ways seemed very significant and of unusual 
interest. When the entire newspaper $>ress 
of the State, with three or four noble excep- 
tions, was hounding him to ruin upon a 
wicked fabrication, he did not, of his own 
motion, call to see a single editor to set him 
right, and thus aid in stemming the fury of 
the storm that beat upon his devoted head 
and bowed him almost to death. When at 
its worst we said to him, " You must have a 
talk with one man at least, the editor of the 
New Era. The truth must be brought out 
through one of the leading newspapers of 
the State, so that editors generally may have 
a chance to see it, and perhaps be led to in- 
quire for themselves into the facts. If Mr. 
Geist sees the situation as you can present 
it, good will result." 

We went together, and they talked over 
the whole field in a protracted interview. 
Mr. G. went to see for himself the school 
which was pronounced the worst, and was 
so convinced of the injustice, if not malice, 
of the attack, that he at once became, and 
continued to be, the most influential de- 
fender of the truth in all the newspaper press 
of Pennsylvania. To-day he can, and does, 
congratulate himself upon having stood al- 
most alone upon the side of the right in 
those dark times. 

The next time we met Mr. Geist after 
this interview, he remarked that he had 
seen many men, and under trying circum- 
stances, but never had he been more im- 
pressed with any man's ability, integrity, 
and force of character. So Dr. Higbee 
would have impressed other intelligent edi- 
tors, but his innate modesty was the bar to 
effort in this direction. 

In his presence there was a sense of good 
diffused all the while — from his cheery 
welcome, as so often he swung his hand into 
yours with a gesture and movement all his 
own, to "Good-bye," ox" God bless you," or 
"4 U Chez" or "Auf Wiedersehen," or 
another of a half-dozen farewells that he 
was wont to use at parting. His quick em- 
phatic " What ?" as he looked up to get the 
force of some statement which was not clearly 
made or which he did not grasp in its full- 
ness, his kindly eye, his cheery voice 
and pleasant smile — though he has gone 
over into the Kingdom of Silence, we hear 



NATIONAL COUNCIL OF EDUCATION. 



35 



them, see them yet. And to-day not a few 
of us thank God as for few things besides, 
that this heroic life has come within the 
sphere of our own lives. Being dead he 
yet speaketh — and as never before ! 

Who among us may wear his mantle ? 
But life to all of us may be better because this 
man has lived. Let us, therefore, get what 
help we can out of his quickening influence. 
Let us get what gladness we may from his 
blessed memory. Let us get what good we 
can from his inspiring example. 

After another of Dr. Higbee's hymns, 
"Jesus o'er the Grave Victorious," had 
been sung, Prof. M. G. Brumbaugh, chair- 
man of the committee, made report of the 
amount of the Dr. Higbee Memorial Fund 
available for the purpose designed. 

On motion of Dr. E. O. Lyte the report 
of the Memorial Committee was accepted, 
and their action unanimously approved by 
the Association. 

Dr. Edward Brooks offered the following, 
which was adopted unanimously : 

Whereas, The Memorial Circular contained 
a provision that this Association should appoint 
a committee to take charge of the fund con- 
tributed for the Memorial, and dispose of the 
same in accordance with the intention of the 
contributors ; therefore 

Resolved, That such committee be appointed 
at this session, with power to make such dispo- 
sition of the fund as in their judgment shall 
best accomplish the purpose intended. 

This Committee was subsequently an- 
nounced by the President, Supt. R. M. Mc- 
Neal, to consist of Dr. J. P. McCaskey, 
Supt. M. J. Brecht, Dr. G. M. Philips, 
Profs. M. G. Brumbaugh and H. W. Fisher. 



MEMORIAL SESSION. 



NATIONAL EDUCATIONAL ASSOCIATION AT 
ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA. 



THE following tribute to the memory of 
Dr. E. E. Higbee was read by Dr. N. 
C. Schaeffer, at the meeting of the National 
Council of the National Educational Asso- 
ciation, July 8, 1890, at St. Paul, Minnesota. 
In introducing his paper Dr. Schaeffer said, 
" I have not written nor can I speak all that 
a pupil would desire to write or speak con- 
cerning his revered preceptor. But I am 
required, under the rules, to keep within a 
certain limit, and will endeavor in a brief 
manner to sketch the career of one of the 
most remarkable educators of modern times. ' ' 
He then read as follows : 
During the past year, the National Coun- 



cil of Education as well as the profession of 
teaching lost one of its brightest ornaments 
in the death of Rev. E. E. Higbee, D. D., 
LL.D., late State Superintendent of Public 
Instruction in Pennsylvania. 

He was born March 27, 1830, about six 
miles from Burlington, Vermont. His 
father was a man noted for force of charac- 
ter, fond of good literature, especially of 
Burke's orations, and a staunch defender of 
the agricultural interests of the Green 
Mountain State. The talent, the literary 
taste, the power of clear, incisive statement, 
and the fearless devotion to what he be- 
lieved to be right, which characterized the 
father, were inherited by the son, and more 
fully developed by careful education and 
by a very varied career in life. 

Having been graduated with honor by the 
University of Vermont at the age of nine- 
teen, he went to Maryland to teach school. 
Diverted from the study of the law by cer- 
tain articles in the Mercersburg Review, 
and through the influence of his sister and 
brother-in-law, he joined the Reformed 
Church, entered the Theological Seminary 
at Mercersburg, Pa., where he enjoyed the 
tuition of Drs. Nevin and Schaff, and in 
1854 was licensed to preach the gospel by 
the Maryland Classis. For a time he 
taught in the High School at Lancaster, Pa. 
and then accepted a call to the Congrega- 
tional church at Bethel, Vermont. Beturn- 
ing after a few years to the church of his 
first love, he preached for a time at Emmits- 
burg, Maryland, where he had formerly 
been private tutor in the family of Hon. 
Joshua Motter, among whose daughters he 
found his noble helpmate through life. In 
1859, he accepted a call to Tiffin, Ohio, 
where he became pastor of the First Re- 
formed church and Professor of Latin and 
Greek in Heidelberg College. In 1862, 
he went to Pittsburgh as pastor of Grace 
church, and in 1864, at the age of thirty- 
four, he was called to Mercersburg to 
succeed Dr. Schaff in the department of 
Church History and Exegesis. 

It was at Mercersburg that the writer first 
learned to know him. He astonished the 
students in various ways. While suffering 
from hay-fever he frequently occupied him- 
self in tracing mathematical curves of the 
higher orders, or in talking of the beauties 
of the Greek verb. Full of eccentricities, 
he never tried to hide his faults or his suf- 
ferings, and yet his lectures were a well- 
spring of inspiration for his auditors. They 
abounded not only in all kinds of learning, 
but also in seed thoughts that afterwards 



36 



DR. E. E. HIGBEE: IN LOVING REMEMBRANCE. 



sprouted and grew into sermons. Daily the 
students came away from him with new 
impulses to study and investigation. His 
influence widened their reading, deepened 
their thinking, increased their zeal in 
studying the Scriptures, and stimulated 
their desire to preach Christ and Him cru- 
cified. Subsequent study abroad convinced 
the writer that the universities of Berlin, 
Leipsic, and Tubingen, whilst they could 
boast of more thorough specialists, did not 
possess his superior as a lecturer and in- 
spirer of young men. 

When the Theological Seminary was re- 
moved to Lancaster — a measure to which 
he was opposed — he resigned his professor- 
ship in the Seminary and accepted a chair 
in the college at a lower salary. As Presi- 
dent of this struggling institution he was 
obliged to teach in different departments, 
and in fact to review his whole College 
course. This widened his scholarship and 
gave him almost unlimited power over the 
young men whom he trained. No head of 
a large institution can hope to exert such a 
moulding influence upon the students en- 
trusted to his care. For the most part, 
Dr. Higbee was idolized by his students : 
his kindness and frankness won their hearts ; 
they listened with rapture to his discourses; 
he was the oracle whose utterances were 
never questioned. In their eyes, he was a 
linguist, a mathematician, a scientist, a 
philosopher, a theologian, a historian, an 
orator and a poet — all combined in one. 
Had his magnificent powers been concen- 
trated upon a single specialty, he might 
have rendered therein services that would 
have been acknowledged in every clime and 
tongue. Great honor is accorded to the 
man who consecrates his time and talent to 
the work of extending the boundaries of 
human knowledge in some special direction, 
but greater honor is due .to the man who 
devotes equally brilliant talents to the train- 
ing and development of immortal minds. 
Schleiermacher says, in his address on Fred- 
erick the Great, that men are great in the 
degree and to the extent that they exert a 
moulding influence upon their fellow-men. 
In this respect Dr. Higbee was greater 
at Mercersburg than was Dr. Arnold at 
Rugby. 

It was during his residence at Mercers- 
burg that Dr. Higbee became one of a 
committee of three to prepare a book of 
" Hymns for the Reformed Church." The 
book in its present form would have been 
an impossibility, had he not first made such 
a thorough study of the pericopes and of 



the theory and construction of the Church 
year upon which the collection was to be 
based. It contains several hymns of his 
own composition. By thus furnishing the 
materials for the devotions of his fellow- 
Christians, he is exerting an influence that 
may well excite the envy of the most suc- 
cessful compiler of text-books. 

The character of man is developed and 
perfected through trials, conflicts and dis- 
appointments. The College that had been 
founded on faith rather than on cash, ulti- 
mately went downjn spite of Dr. Higbee's 
herculean efforts. There were periods in 
his life when he ate his bread in tears, and 
when there was no meat in the house. But 
he never lost his trust in Providence. In 
one of the darkest hours he said, "Some- 
thing is coming — I feel it — God will not 
forsake us ! " Something did come. Gov. 
Hoyt selected him to be State Superin- 
tendent of Public Instruction. In ways 
that were marvelous and altogether unfore- 
seen, Providence had prepared him for a 
new and wider field of usefulness. 

When he entered upon his duties as State 
Superintendent, one of his friends expressed 
to him the fear that a man " troubled with 
ideas" might not succeed in mastering the 
details of a great school system, and thus 
be too prone to inaugurate changes. 
Leaving details to his subordinates, he 
studied the salient features of the system 
until he became exceedingly conservative 
in all the changes he recommended. At 
Mercersburg he sometimes condemned the 
public school system in severe terms; but 
as he grew more familiar with its workings 
and results, he discovered that its merits 
were greater than its defects, and at last no 
one was a more eloquent advocate of the 
Pennsylvania system of Public Instruction, 
although he never ceased to call the atten- 
tion of teachers and directors to their 
short-comings and failures. By his eloquent 
addresses at teachers' institutes all over the 
State, and by his incessant labors in season 
and out of season, he brought about the 
building of better school houses, the plant- 
ing of many thousands of shade trees, the 
lengthening of the school term, and an in- 
crease of the school appropriation from the 
general treasury of the Commonwealth from 
one million to two millions of dollars. It 
was his ambition to have this amount in- 
creased to three millions, and if he had 
lived he would in no long time have 
achieved this result. 

It is to be regretted that he never put 
into book form his ideas on the mutual re- 



MONUMENT TO THEIR GREAT TEACHER. 



37 



lations of pupil and teacher. For him the 
aim of true education was to unsense the 
mind and to unset/ the will. On the last 
day on which he was conscious, he spoke of 
a book which he contemplated writing on 
this subject — a book that would have set 
"concrete" teaching in its true light, and 
saved our younger teachers from a multitude 
of errors. As editor of The Pennsylvania 
School Journal he wrote a good deal. One 
obstacle to the productivity of his pen, 
however, was that he saw on all sides prob- 
lems requiring solution and generally felt 
satisfied if he had a solution for himself. 
He seldom stopped to formulate and 
mediate such solutions for the benefit of 
others, because he was continually lured to 
new fields of investigation. 

The crusade which was inaugurated against 
him during his second term made him a 
hero and a martyr. Of the merits and de- 
merits of the agitation which sprang up 
in connection with the Soldiers' Orphan 
Schools, this is neither the time nor the place 
to speak. Through the influence of one of 
the larger Philadelphia dailies, the press of 
the State was almost without exception ar- 
rayed against him. For a time he was made 
to suffer intensely for the sins of others. His 
vindication came in due time. The storm 
of persecution which had darkened the air 
gradually spent its force, and men began 
to see things in a clearer light. The Com- 
missioners appointed by the Legislature 
voiced the convictions of the teachers and 
of the public generally when they stated 
that as Superintendent of the Soldiers' 
Orphan Schools "he was honest, capable, 
and untiring in his efforts in the interest of 
the children," and that "with motives pure 
and conscience void of offence he performed 
his duties in connection therewith." 

With the change of administration a gen- 
tleman of maturer years became the Chief 
Executive. Gov. Beaver, after a careful sur- 
vey of the educational interests so dear to 
his heart, came to the conclusion that he 
could not serve the children of the Com- 
monwealth better than by reappointing Dr. 
Higbee for a third term as Superintendent 
of Public Instruction. The anxieties, the 
persecutions, the slanders which he had en- 
dured with the courage of a martyr, had 
sapped his strength and broken his health. 
The cheerfulness of former days never re- 
turned, although he entered upon his new 
term with all the vigor that his resolute soul 
could summon for the work. He labored 
at his mission while consciousness lasted. 
His last working day was spent at Mifflin- 



town, where he lectured with his usual fire, 
and eloquently advocated the establishment 
of school libraries. At high noon of that 
day, he woke as from a reverie, exclaiming, 
" Thank the Lord, I am getting stronger !" 
How little man knows himself! That even- 
ing while waiting for the train, he had a 
stroke of paralysis from which he never re- 
covered. He was taken to the home of his 
son-in-law, Prof. G. F. Mull, at Lancaster, 
where he died on Friday, Dec. 13, 1889, 
although practically dead fifty-six hours 
before his heart finally ceased to beat — a 
most impressive example of the protest of 
nature against dissolution. 

His last act was to urge a boy to learn a 
trade and develop the skill of the hand. It 
was a fitting close to a life devoted to the 
education of the young. In all ages men have 
erected monuments to great soldiers. The 
children of Pennsylvania are now engaged 
in erecting a monument in honor of their 
great teacher. Is it not a significant fact 
that the world is beginning to honor those 
who train for life as much as those who take 
life? Monuments decay and crumble to 
dust, the human spirit never. Impressions 
made here are like stones thrown into the 
stream of time, the waves of which will still 
be visible in the great ocean of eternity. 

The chief glory of Dr. Higbee lies not in 
the fact that he was a Professor or President 
of a College, or a State Superintendent, but 
in the fact that he walked in the footsteps 
of the Great Teacher, and like Him, spent 
his days in doing good unto others. Gifted 
with extraordinary talents, which were never 
employed for purposes of self-aggrandize- 
ment, willing to lend his brains where others 
reaped the gains, prepared to suffer injustice 
for the sake of those who had befriended 
him, spending the strength of his ripest 
years in drying the tears of children and in 
adding to their comforts, able to appreciate 
the best qualities of the various nationalities 
that have rooted themselves in the Keystone 
State, ready to accept truth and to combat 
error wherever he found it, versed in the 
best lore of the age yet humble as a child, 
never making a display of his piety yet 
never professing his religious faith in uncer- 
tain accents, growing in Christian charity 
through the persecutions he endured until 
he finally reached that stage of sainthood 
in which not an unkind word dropped from 
his lips against those who had so deeply 
wronged him, pleading with all the elo- 
quence of the early Church Fathers in be- 
half of the rising generation until paralysis 
ended his career — he will ever stand before 



38 



DR. E. E. HIGBEE: IN LOVING REMEMBRANCE. 



the minds of his pupils and fellow-teachers 
as a personality unique among the school 
officials of this land, and as a Christian saint 
whose faith we will strive to follow until 
with him and the whole glorious company 
of the redeemed we shall reach our common 
consummation of redemption and bliss in 
the glorious resurrection of the last day. 



Dr. E. E. White, of Cincinnati, Ohio, 
spoke as follows : " Frequent calls to lecture 
in the teachers' institutes of Pennsylvania 
afforded me opportunities to become some- 
what intimately acquainted with Dr. Hig- 
bee. I thus frequently met him, and not 
only heard him speak on different educa- 
tional topics, but had repeated conversations 
with him on the various questions receiving 
public attention. He was not only a wide 
and accurate scholar, but a man of deep 
convictions and well-grounded opinions. I 
have met few educators with so clear an in- 
sight into vital and far-reaching school 
questions. His education and experience 
enabled him to look at such questions from 
a higher standpoint than most school offi- 
cers, and he brought to their discussion not 
only a wide view, but a rare acumen. His 
educational horizon was wide enough to in- 
clude all grades of schools. 

The week before his death he came to 
Huntingdon, Pa., where I was delivering a 
course of lectures. He seemed quite feeble, 
but said that his health was much improved. 
He remained some days, attending the 
several sessions of the institute, an interested 
listener. On "Directors' Day" he made 
an eloquent and stirring address, taking for 
his central thought the teacher in the place 
of the parent, in loco parentis. The address 
closed with an impressive appeal to teachers 
to look upon the children entrusted to their 
training as heirs of immortality. He spoke 
as one to whom the other world seemed 
very real and very near. 

Dr. Higbee always emphasized soul-cul- 
ture as the central end of school training. 
He looked upon the school as a means of 
making human life sweeter and happier. 
He had an earnest word for good reading, 
for music, and for vital moral training, and 
his great desire was to see school training 
lifted to a higher aesthetic and moral plane. 
His good influence on the schools of Penn- 
sylvania will continue for years to come. 
The eloquent tongue is silent, but his ring- 
ing words for what is best in child- education 
will not soon be forgotten. 

Dr. H. S. Jones, of Erie : Mr. President 
and Members of the Council : I hardly feel 



that I dan trust myself to say what is rest- 
ing upon my heart concerning our beloved 
brother whose form, intellectual presence, 
and spiritual power we sorely miss as an 
educational body, for the reason that our 
acquaintance, though not of long duration, 
was most intimate — there being nothing be- 
tween our minds and souls to interfere with 
the fullest freedom of interchange of opinion 
and sentiment. Knowing him as I did, it 
would be no easy task to sum up and analyze 
his many shining qualities and grand char- 
acteristics. • 

On this occasion, I think that we as 
educators can but be benefited by calling to 
mind one thing in his intellectual life that 
is worthy of study and imitation. It was 
said of General Grant, that he had "near- 
ness " — the faculty of getting near things. 
By far too many people ranking as scholars 
see things at a distance, " as through a glass 
darkly." Dr. Higbee was never satisfied 
with distant or obscure views; nothing but 
thorough assimilation satisfied him, and 
when he opened his mind to you, you saw 
not a collection of second- hand material, 
but rich stores of individualized knowledge, 
fresh in personality, with diamond crystal- 
lization. The more the educational people 
of Pennsylvania study their leader, the more 
he seems to live and move before them as an 
intellectual and a moral force that shall 
never lessen as time moves on, in making 
up the history of a nation that is to be a 
bright and shining light to the world. 

Dr. B. A. Hinsdale, of Ann Arbor, 
Michigan : My personal acquaintance with 
Dr. Higbee was not extensive. I first met 
him in Pittsburgh several years ago, on the 
occasion of our both being called there to 
assist in the dedication of the Wickersham 
school. At that place, besides hearing him 
in an address, I spent a good deal of time 
in his company. He impressed me deeply 
by the compass of his mind and the eleva- 
tion of his character. The strongest im- 
pression that he made upon me was a dis- 
tinctly pedagogical one. His public address 
and his private conversation turned much 
on the materialistic and objective tendencies 
of current education. While recognizing 
the value and necessity of sense-impres- 
sions and sense-objects in teaching, he rea- 
lized profoundly that sense-knowledge is 
but the introduction to the higher know- 
ledge. He spoke of unsensing or dematerial- 
izing the mind. This form of speech has 
never been forgotten, and has been of per- 
manent value to me. It is a most happy 
way of putting this important thought, that 



ONE GLORIOUS AND CENTRAL TRUTH. 



y> 



seemed to be a favorite one with him. I 
met Dr. Higbee afterwards two or three 
times, but was never able, I regret to say, 
to renew the familiar intercourse of Pitts- 
burgh. He was a great and a good man. 

Supt. J. M. Greenwood, of Kansas City, 
Missouri: It is not in debate or from the 
platform that we learn to know men as they 
are. In private intercourse we come closer 
to the heart and nearer to the soul. From 
the life of Dr. Higbee many valuable les- 
sons may be drawn. His mind was analytic, 
quick, and active. The two most striking 
characteristics of his nature were intensity 
and earnestness. Whatever he undertook, 
he threw his whole soul into it. His con- 
victions of duty, truth, purity, and good- 
ness were the lofty ideals that guided him 
in his actions. Life with him meant a 
struggle in the higher fields of thought — a 
grappling with those questions of supreme 
importance to the human race. His sym- 
pathies were broad and deep. His impulses 
were generous and noble ; and when he fell, 
Missourians mingled their tears with those 
of loving friends in Pennsylvania. 

President Peabodv, of the University of 
Illinois : I knew him at the University of 
Vermont, when he was a Senior and I was a 
Freshman. He was possessed of a strong 
and vigorous intellect, and I always believed 
that he would choose the legal profession. 
Years later I heard him deliver an impress- 
ive sermon in Racine, Wisconsin, and could 
scarcely believe that this was the same Hig- 
bee with whom I had spent a year in college 
at Burlington. 

Supt. John Hancock said he regarded 
Dr. Higbee as a hero, poet and philosopher, 
who has left his impress upon all with whom 
he became closely associated. 



MEMORIAL TRIBUTES. 



IN speaking of our departed brother, it 
must be said to his praise that no tongue 
so eloquent as was his will speak in public 
eulogy of his many virtues and talents. I 
doubt if there is to be found among the Eng- 
lish clergymen of the Reformed Church in 
this land, one who can equal him in this 
particular. Graceful and forcible in gesture, 
the very motion or wave of his hand would 
at times give a wealth of meaning to deep 
and pregnant thought, clothed in the most 
beautiful diction. His language was strong, 
yet chaste and poetic. At times he fearlessly 
used what might be called by some the lan- 
guage of the street, but the expressions were 



so well chosen that they conveyed no vulgar 
thought, but gave such emphasis to the im- 
portant truth presented as no other words 
could give. With a vivid imagination he 
would present picture after picture before 
the mind of his congregation, and yet he 
never indulged in a rhapsody which would 
please for the time by glittering terms, and 
leave the mind confused. The poetry of his 
sermons was not that of language merely, 
but the poetry of truth, and the image was 
so clear in his own mind that none who 
listened could fail to see it. And who that 
ever heard could fail to listen ? 

So clear in expression was he, that I doubt 
if he ever failed to convey his thought to 
the hearer, save when, from some cause, it 
was not fully clear to himself; as diverted 
for a moment by a passing thought he would 
reach out after it and fail to grasp it. Then 
he might labor for a season till having 
caught it would say, " Let me explain," and 
the captive truth would be presented fully 
and clearly to the enraptured worshipers. I 
say worshipers designedly. For his sermons 
were sermons. With all the power of a 
sensationalist, he never descended to the 
cheap tricks of the trade which would aim 
at an effect for the sake of the effect. His 
message was not that of an eloquent man, 
but the message of God spoken through His 
servant. To hear was to worship, and the 
preacher was forgotten for the time in the 
importance of the word spoken. He had 
always a fullness of illustration, but was 
most powerful in his beautiful and striking 
presentation of scenes, events and facts 
taken from the Bible. From the book of 
nature, from history, sacred and profane, 
from human life, and the customs of men, 
he took that which he had gathered by his 
own observation and study ; and he could 
make the flowers and fruits, the mosses and 
ferns, the comets and stars, and human pas- 
sions, all testify to the one glorious and 
central truth of his preaching — the all-suffi- 
ciency of Jesus Christ, the Son of God and 
the Son of man, the Saviour of the world. 

His eloquence was the eloquence of truth, 
but of truth presented so that it would take 
hold. He had rare discernment, and his 
words were penetrating. He seemed to 
know the very weakness of our nature, and 
our secret sins. No minister ever drove me 
so frequently to penitent prayer. But he 
also knew the varied power of temptation, 
and he could alike comfort and console. 
Perhaps his greatest power lay in his glow- 
ing conception of the glory and stability 01 
the kingdom of God ; its length and breadth, 



DR. E. E. HIG BE E: IN LOVING REMEMBRANCE. 



its depth and height, its all-embracing 
capacity, its "enduring forever." Like the 
voice of a patriot, raised for the honor of 
his native land, would his own clear voice 
sound the praises of the Redeemer's king- 
dom, until the chapel would seem to us like 
the world itself. "All power is given unto 
me both in heaven and in earth. Go ye 
therefore" — how he would ring out that 
"therefore," till in our thrilled being we 
would feel, " If God be for us, who can be 
against us ? " 

His eloquence being the eloquence of 
truth, it was not dependent upon outward 
surroundings. All that was needed to call 
it forth, was the occasion of duty. In the 
family circle, in the study with none to 
listen but his single auditor, it would flow 
forth. All it needed was sympathy — sym- 
pathy with the truth aimed at — not agree- 
ment with the views presented. But though 
in private, in the family circle, on the plat- 
form, on the floor of Synod, and in the pul- 
pit, it has been our privilege to hear him, 
nowhere have we heard him so eloquent as 
in the class-room. Herewith but a class of 
eight, sometimes, and alas! frequently, with 
his aching brow resting on his hand, would 
he speak of the most wondrous history this 
world has ever known — that of the Chris- 
tian Church. Humble apostles and mighty 
emperors, courageous martyrs and brutish 
tyrants, peasants and princes, monks and 
popes, wayside preachers and lordly bishops, 
all would be made to pass across the stage 
of the world's life, till we could almost see 
the blood-stained sand of the amphitheatre, 
or the heathen hordes receiving baptism at 
the hands of the missionary of the cross. 
With clasped hands, with unbidden tears 
did we listen, till we almost wished he would 
cease, yet longed for more. 

And through all this history was One 
most blessed of all, who never escaped his 
vision and of whom he made all history say, 
"Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive 
glory and honor and power: for Thou hast 
created all things, and for Thy pleasure 
they were and are created." 

In looking back over our days of prepara- 
tion for the gospel ministry, as we reflect 
upon the ability and faithfulness of our in- 
structors and spiritual guides, we recognize 
with grateful heart their liberality. Free 
and clear in their criticisms of every system 
of thought and worship which did violence 
to the person of Christ, or to the Christian 
Church and the sacraments, they none the less 
rejoiced in whatever good was accomplished, 
or in whatever truth was made known, by 



any Church or by any man. In our three 
years' training we never heard from any of 
our professors that we were to become min- 
isters of the Reformed Church. It was 
always as in training to become ministers of 
Christ, that they addressed us. 

This liberality — the ability to see the ex- 
cellence of others however much he might 
differ from them — was one element of great- 
ness in Dr. Higbee. In his lectures on the 
development of the Roman Catholic Church, 
in her heroic testimony to the supremacy of 
the spiritual, as seen in her struggles against 
earthly powers, he was as free from the 
narrow ruts of prejudice as the bird that 
takes its own independent flight through the 
pathless heavens. After one of these lec- 
tures, one of my classmates, a man possessed 
of more than ordinary penetration, said, 
"If I didn't know Higbee, I should say 
he is a Catholic." 

But when we came in the course of our 
study to the Reformation, how he made our 
hearts glow with gratitude for the mighty 
work accomplished by the Spirit of God, 
not for us, but for the world and for the 
universal Church. From no writer, and 
from no speaker, have I ever heard, as from 
his lips, the character of Luther set forth in 
such heroic proportions. The words have 
long since been lost, but the vision of that 
hero of truth and righteousness shall ever 
remain. And when he lectured on AVesley 
and the rise of Methodism, did we ever at 
any time know him more eloquent? Then 
my friend came to me again and said, 
"Now, if I didn't know Higbee, I should 
say he is a Methodist." 

With him it was the spiritual as over and 
above the earthly — the freedom of the con- 
science, and the right of access to the throne 
of grace through the one Mediator, Jesus 
Christ, which ever attracted him ; and where- 
ever he saw these, whether in Roman 
Catholic or Protestant, in Lutheran or Re- 
formed, in the Church of England or in 
Methodism, they called forth his admira- 
tion and praise. It was truth, all embracing 
and all-levelling truth, which, whether he 
always found it or not, he ever sought : and 
as to his poetic mind the presence of Deity 
was revealed in all the varied forms of nature, 
from the graceful fern and fragrant arbutus 
to the mighty oak and towering pine, so he 
believed and so he taught that all forms of 
religious life and thought revealed to him 
who would see it the truth and wisdom of 
God — From Memorial Sermon by Rev. E. 
M. Kremer, of Harrisbi/rs;, Pa., preached 
Sunday, December 22d, 1889. 



THE DRIEST STATISTICS BREAK INTO SONG. 



4i 



THE PRESENCE OF AN ALL-PERVADING BEAUTY, 
TO HIM THE SYNONYM OF GOD. 

In a letter accompanying the following 
sympathetic tribute, Supt. R. M. Streeter, 
of Titusville, Pa., writes: "I know I have 
overrun the limits you gave me, and if the 
article is too long you must cut it down. 
How could I touch upon the joy he felt 
in the world around him? The very grasses 
sang to him under his feet — the very 
clouds dipped their colors to him as they 
floated by — and in them all, what sweet 
glimpses came to him of the Father's face! 
I shall never again see his like. I wanted 
here to say something of the plaything he 
made of his learning. He rarely wrote me 
that he did not, in graceful phrase, from 
this poet or that, bring up a picture full of 
life and beauty. Still, the article is long 
enough. Those who never knew him will 
not believe what I have written ; those who 
did know him must read it between the lines 
— I hope they will be found loving ones, 
for I did love him." 

IN MEMORIAM. 

A great grief has come upon us. The 
State Superintendent of Public Instruction 
is dead. The news so sudden and so sad 
has been told with sorrowful voice in 
every school-house, and in many a home in 
the Commonwealth, and words of sympathy 
have gone back to those who knew him best 
and loved him. Among the tributes to his 
worth let me here place mine, in memory of 
those virtues which made him admired, and 
loved, and mourned. 

It needs no deep insight into this man's 
character to discover that its single motive 
was to realize in his work what he had so 
thoroughly realized in his own inner life — 
the presence of an all-pervading Beauty, to 
him the synonym of God. This, wherever 
he went, was a light unto his path. Learn- 
ing called him, and he drank deep at the 
empyrean spring; literature beckoned, and 
she found in his pleasing voice and graceful 
pen the charm of the orator and the beauty 
of the poet ; the pulpit needed him, and 
with every sense alive to the duties of that 
sacred calling, he stepped behind the 
Master that the Divine life and character 
should in no way be hidden by his own. 

Called to superintend the education of 
the State, he saw at a glance that the leaven 
needed in the meal was the same all per- 
vading beauty which had so far blessed his 
life, and he hastened to hide it there. With 
a zeal no weariness could lessen, much less 
subdue, he began his work. No corner 



escaped him. College and school in city, 
in borough, and by the country roadside, 
received alike from him the newness of life 
and responded alike to his healing touch. 
Here learning languished ; and he took the 
discouraged teacher by the hand and sent 
him to his work refreshed and strengthened. 
There directors were remiss, and with words 
that sting like a lash they attended to the 
neglected duty. Now he pleads with miserly 
manhood to widen, the intellectual horizon 
of his promising boy; now by his influence 
and his example the standard of scholarship 
is lifted, and teacher and pupil, cheered by 
his words, clamber the shining heights ; and 
now, with an earnestness which knows no 
limit, he begs that hammer and plane may 
be placed in the school-boy's hands, that 
life to the coming man may have greater 
means of knowing and loving beauty, and 
so of knowing and loving God. 

The same purpose permeates his poems — 
for poems they are — to the General Assem- 
bly. Strive against it as he may, the driest 
statistics in his hands break into song. 
Beauty, that radiant mistress of the senses ; 
Truth, the Holy Mother of purity ; the 
Good, God's name misspelled — these are 
his themes, and with them he persuades that 
children — "They are not things. They 
are living souls"* — taught as they ought to 
be, by teachers such as these, will not fail 
to find in the living lessons of earth and sea 
and star-lighted sky, the Loveliness that 
passeth all understanding, and before it the 
"universe bending in adoration and join- 
ing with cherubim and seraphim and veiled 
angels, and crying, Holy ! holy ! holy ! 
Lord God Almighty ! Heaven and earth 
are full of the majesty of Thy glory." 

This was his work, but the same divinity 
blessed his play. Here his field was the 
world, and the world was subject to him. 
There was darkness nowhere. The dreari- 
est railway station, if he was there, was 
made bright with the pictures he painted 
of sunny scenes. A straggling thought, 
linked only by contrast to its far-off extreme, 
would smite the rock of his memory, and 
sparkling water from the classic fountains of 
almost every tongue gushed forth, always to 
the point, and always with the purpose of 
cheering those about him — a charity reach- 
ing its culmination, when, buffeted by 
falsehood and malice, he could say — and 
did say while he suffered — " Forgive them, 
for they know not what they do." 

His death, apart from the overwhelming 
sorrow of his friends, is not to be deplored. 

* From Annual Report'for 1885, by Dr. Higbee. 



4 2 



DR. E. E. HIGBEE : IN L O VING REMEMBRANCE. 



Sudden as it was to us, to him it was no 
surprise. He had long been ready. Suc- 
cess was crowning — had crowned — his work. 
The beauty there realized — it was his mis- 
sion — had won for him the favor of Life 
and found for him a friend in Death. Let 
us believe to this last friendship is due his 
painless dying. We know his compromise 
with Life stood thus : 

'Tis hard to part when friends are dear, — 
Perhaps 'twill cost a sigh, a tear ; 

Then steal away, give little warning, 
Choose thine own time ; 
Say not Good Night, — but in some brighter clime 

Bid me Good Morning. 



HIS THOUGHT INTO THEIR THINKING. 

The death of Dr. Higbee came to me as 
a great shock. I had seen him but a month 
before at the Lancaster County Institute, 
and had the rare privilege during my visit 
to Lancaster at that time of enjoying the 
hospitality of his own home. Little did I 
then realize that I was enjoying an associa- 
tion and a friendship, among the dearest of 
my life, for the last time. 

I had known Dr. Higbee by reputation 
ever since I was a student at college. I read 
with avidity everything he wrote, and be- 
fore I had ever made his personal acquaint- 
ance he had already done much to fashion 
my thinking and my life. Nothing, I be- 
lieve, appeals so strongly to an immature 
college student as intellectual brilliancy, and 
I think I was particularly drawn towards him 
at that time on that account. He was my 
ideal of the brilliant thinker and the polished 
scholar. Later, as I became more mature 
and could see the elements of a great char- 
acter in truer perspective, I learned to love 
him for what he was, still more than for what 
he thought or for what he said. Rare as were 
his qualities of mind, his qualities of heart 
and soul were rarer. Next to my own near- 
est kin, there was no man for whom I had 
so deep an affection, nor one who had so 
strong a hold on my life. He had a strange 
fascination and charm for all who came to 
know his inner life. His childlike, guile- 
less frankness, his trustfulness, and deep and 
tender sympathies, drew and held every one 
to him that came in contact with him suffi- 
ciently to learn to know him. 

Whilst I had known him through his 
writings for years, I had not made his per- 
sonal acquaintance until he was called to fill 
the office which he honored and dignified 
for the last eight years of his life. I was 
then Superintendent of the Schools of Car- 
bon county. Soon after he had accepted 



the office to which he was called, I wrote 
him a letter urging him to come to the 
annual Teachers' Institute which I was 
going to hold in a few months. He replied 
that he would come, and he came as he had 
promised. 

I vividly recall the impression he made. 
Although it was the first time I had met 
him, and there was only one teacher in the 
county (a former pupil of his) who had had 
any previous acquaintance with him, a room- 
full of eager listeners crowded around him 
the very first evening at the hotel", and kept 
him talking Shakespeare, art, and philos- 
ophy, until after midnight. His addresses 
to the Institute were so different from any- 
thing of the kind the teachers had ever been 
accustomed to hear on such occasions, that 
they made a deep impression. A fair num- 
ber followed his line of thought, the rest 
only vaguely felt his power. To me he 
became at once an inspiration. Michael 
Faraday, when asked what he regarded the 
greatest discovery of his life, replied, " When 
I found Sir Humphey Davy." I felt that I 
had made a great discovery on the day I 
found Dr. Higbee — the man as well as the 
scholar. I owe to him, more than to any 
other source, what little I have accomplished 
in public school work since then. He gave 
me larger views of the problem of education, 
deeper insight into the human mind and 
character than I had had before, and his 
strong personality, his character as a man, 
and his attainments as a scholar, have ever 
since been with me an inspiring, upward- 
lifting ideal. 

His work as State Superintendent was 
peculiarly his own, in the sense that no one 
else could have done it. What he did for 
me, he did for hundreds of other Superin- 
tendents and teachers. Let any one go 
through the annual reports of the Superin- 
tendents of Pennsylvania, and he will find 
every thoughtful, well-written report so 
strongly tinged with Dr. Higbee's thought 
as even occasionally to approach an uncon- 
scious imitation of his terse, characteristic 
phraseology. Teachers at County Institutes 
have often read essays in my hearing repro- 
ducing with much fullness and accuracy, pro- 
bably all unconsciously to themselves, the 
substance of one of Dr. Higbee's addresses 
the year before. This indicates the scope 
of his work, its lasting effect, far more clearly 
than could be done by statistics of official 
reports. He led the educational forces of 
his State by leading and directing their 
thinking — the most difficult as well as the 
most lasting kind of leadership. 



KEENLY ALIVE TO WONDERS OF NATURE. 



43 



His work at Teachers' Institutes was by 
far the most important work. He realized 
this fully himself, and therefore spent most 
of his time and strength in reaching the 
teachers and Superintendents on these occa- 
sions, and fashioning their thought and giv- 
ing them higher conceptions of their work. 
At these meetings he was always the central 
figure, and his addresses made the deepest 
impression. 

I cannot help but make these remarks 
strongly personal. I feel too keenly my 
own personal loss to be able to prevent the 
thought of it from being uppermost in my 
mind as I write. Dr. Higbee's place in the 
world, as that of every great man, can in a 
sense be filled; his place in the heart, never. 
— Dr. Thos. M. Balliel, City Superintendent, 
Springfield, Massachusetts. 



EVERY KIND OF OUT-DOOR SPORT. 

It is with feelings of peculiar sadness that 
I attempt to give you some reminiscences 
of our dear departed friend and brother, 
E.'E. Higbee. My earliest acquaintance with 
him dates back to 1849, wnen I was Dut a lad 
of eleven years and he a youth of nineteen. 
As you know, he had come fresh from his 
home in Vermont, to assist his brother-in- 
law, Rev. G. W. Aughinbaugh, in teaching 
a select school, and I was one of his little 
boys who very soon became attached to him. 

In the hours of school he was dignified 
and kind — a very strict disciplinarian and 
master in all things. In playtime he would 
unbend his dignity, and soon made it 
manifest that he was the best man — not 
only at books, but as well at every kind of 
sport. I began the study of Greek and 
Latin under him at this time, and also the 
pursuit of every kind of out-door sport, of 
which he was very fond. Many a day did 
he and I ramble the woods and fields around 
old Emmitsburg with gun and bag, and many 
an hour we sat along the banks of Tom's 
Creek, where bites were plenty but fish few. 
He was as fine a shot as I ever knew, and 
he disdained to shoot at any game in repose, 
preferring, as he said, to give them a fair 
chance for life. He rarely raised the gun 
to his shoulder to glance along the barrel in 
shooting partridges, pheasants or wood- 
cock — and he rarely failed to bring down 
his bird. I have seen him wing the chim- 
ney swallow in his wayward flight ; and the 
bull- bat he has often shot at twilight from 
the very hill where now in death's cold sleep 
his mortal remains are at rest. These feats 
of skill in marksmanship were common when 



he was a young man, but as he grew older 
I never knew him to take the gun into his 
hand. His beautiful hazel eye was quick as 
the lightning, and the most expressive fea- 
ture of his face. It seemed, at times of 
great earnestness, to pierce through men and 
things, until the very core of the matter lay 
bare before him, and he saw everything in 
clearest vision. His power of ordinary 
sight was also remarkable. He could tell 
from a long distance not only the genera 
but the species of trees, as for instance the 
different oaks, maples, etc., and enjoyed 
testing his eyesight in this way ; he could 
count the strands of a rope at a greater dis- 
tance than any one else while at Mercers- 
burg ; and on the way to Europe and return 
his eye was as quick and as sure as that of 
any of the sailors to detect and distinguish 
objects on the horizon. 

During his last year at the Theological 
Seminary, in Mercersburg, I again resumed 
my studies under him ; and if old " Parnell's 
Knob " and the "Trout Run" could speak, 
they would tell tales of our innocent pranks, 
in company with the now venerable Prof. 
Wm. M. Nevin. It was here and after- 
wards at Lancaster, whither 1 followed him 
when he was called to the High School, that 
our companionship was properly begun, I 
then having advanced to an age when I could 
more properly enjoy and appreciate him. 

Among the grand old hills that lie around 
Mercersburg I first learned of his poetic 
nature, as he would read me, from time to 
time, some of his youthful productions. 
Here he gave me the lines to the " Tumble 
Bug," which I have transcribed for you and 
send herewith as a memento. We were 
walking down the lane, through the old 
home farm, when his attention was arrested 
by one of these bugs at work. Ever keenly 
alive to and appreciative of the beauties 
and wonders of nature, he stopped to in- 
vestigate the bug, soon getting from me all 
I knew of its habits and peculiarities, and 
then came these lines, which I think would 
do no discredit to Burns himself, with 
whose poems he was very familiar. He 
often wrote in this Scotch dialect. 

During the year that I was with him as a 
pupil, we roomed, slept and ate together, 
and on down to the end of his life our rela- 
tion was always most pleasant. He was as 
dear to me as a brother in the flesh, and I 
cannot yet think of him as dead. It is an 
item of pleasant memory to me that I heard 
his very first sermon, which was preached 
on the last Sunday in Advent, 1854, in the 
First Reformed Church at Lancaster, where 






44 



DR. E. E. HIGBEE: IN LOVING REMEMBRANCE. 



his funeral service was held ; and I also 
heard the last sermon he preached, which 
was in the church he loved so well at 
Emmitsburg, on the 13th of October, 1889; 
from this church, as you know, the last ser- 
vices were held. It is a sweet and blessed 
comfort to feel " that we are still in quick 
sympathy in all things glad and good " with 
our beloved dead, who have only preceded 
us to the other shore, and will welcome us 
there when the Master shall call us. — An 
Old Pupil, Washington, D. C. 



THE VERY BEST ALL-ROUND SCHOLAR IN 
THE STATE. 

Dr. Higbee was called to the superin- 
tendence of the Common Schools of Penn- 
sylvania after many years of successful 
organization and administration had been 
expended upon them. When his prede- 
cessor announced his desire to be relieved 
from further service, a very grave duty was 
thrown upon the appointing power. There 
was no belief that there were any definite 
defects in the existing system, or that any 
radical reforms were needed. So many 
earnest and acute minds had been engaged 
upon our Common Schools that no obvious 
lack in the system remained outstanding. 
The educators of the State were a vast body 
of trained men, and everywhere intelligent 
friends were on the alert for defects which 
might exist, and their remedy. 

The criticism, if any, which most vividly 
suggested itself to those who sat at head- 
quarters, and had a reasonably correct per- 
spective of the organization as a whole, was 
that it had settled into a sort of rigidity — 
had, in a measure, lost its elasticity. Even 
this feature so depended on the local boards 
that its correction seemed of doubtful suc- 
cess, unless the people could be stimulated 
to new and different efforts — unless some- 
thing like effervescence could be introduced. 

In discussing the situation and the im- 
portance of the place with Hon. John Stew- 
art, then the senator from Franklin county, 
the name of Dr. Higbee was mentioned by 
him. Senator Stewart's recital of the qual- 
ifications of Dr. Higbee impressed me at 
once with the purpose to summon Dr. Hig- 
bee, and, after very full inquiry of a number 
of gentlemen with whom the Doctor had 
been associated in various capacities, and 
the most gratifying endorsement of him, I 
called him to a personal interview. 

Dr. Higbee was disposed to be distrustful 
of his executive powers. But inasmuch as 
what was needed was some new ideas corre- 
lated on new lines, it seemed likely that we 



could get the new ideas executed by others, 
and the Doctor's objection fell. We all now 
know that he was over-modest in his estimate 
of himself. 

I have often recurred to that interview 
with Dr. Higbee, for it has always afforded 
me the gratification of having made "no 
mistake" in the man. How genial, bright, 
and sympathetic he was we all know. His 
ideas of managing the Common Schools he 
has since put fully into practice. To some 
extent he realized his ideal, to make all the 
educational resources of the State — the com- 
mon schools, the academies, and the colleges 
— consistent and logical parts of one cohe- 
rent whole. He unified the means and ends 
of education, which the people sought — had 
dimly in view — but which are now, I think, 
fairly and definitely appreciated, alike by 
teachers and taxpayers. Dr. Higbee was, 
in my opinion, the very best "all-round" 
scholar in the State, and he has vindicated 
that opinion before the people and in the 
public addresses he has delivered in all parts 
of the State. The columns of your School 
Journal will bear so much testimony to his 
lovable human and humane character that I 
withhold the eulogy I feel like pronouncing 
upon him. His record is made up in the 
hearts and appreciation of his fellow-citizens. 
He had an honest, great and patient soul — 
too great, indeed, to stop and even try to 
repel the pitiful injustice which was once 
attempted to be put upon him. — Ex. Gov. 
Henry M. Hoyt, Philadelphia, Pa. 



A PRINCE HAS FALLEN IN ISRAEL. 

A Prince has fallen in Israel ! Sudden 
almost as the stroke of the lightning — then 
translation. Men like Dr. Higbee do not 
die, here or hereafter. The Universe were 
an awful fraud and failure, if the light of 
such a life were snuffed out like any " brief 
candle." He has but passed to the world of 
his Hope, and this, in which so lately he 
greeted friends and toiled patiently and lov- 
ingly, has become a world of Memory. If 
this be true, does he recall how, the Satur- 
day before his death, we talked of the edi- 
torial department of this number of The 
Journal — when he seemed in better health, 
stronger and more buoyant in spirit, than we 
had known him for a twelvemonth — and 
does he think how different must be the 
contents of this department from what we 
had planned ? It may be so. How little 
either of us knew, or thought, of what it 
would and does contain ! 

His work is done ! It seems but a little 
while ago since it was said of him, and said 



HIS NAME A HO USE HO ID WORD. 



45 



truthfully, by the best educational authority 
in Pennsylvania: "He takes command of 
an army of 40,000 teachers and school offi- 
cers and 1,000,000 children — almost un- 
known to every individual composing this 
great body. This disability may be over- 
come, but it can only be done by general- 
ship of the highest kind, and a whole-souled 
devotion to the work in hand." He dies — 
and the name of Dr. Higbee has become a 
"household word" in every part of this 
great Commonwealth. What other name is 
to-day better known, more tenderly spoken, 
more highly honored, more truly revered ? 
His person, his manner, his words, will not 
be forgotten by this generation, and will be 
remembered in the traditions of the next. 

All this because he was a profound 
scholar, an eloquent speaker, a competent 
executive, a conscientious public official? 
In part, yes — but mainly because he was a 
living epistle of generous goodness, "seen 
and read of all men " — a living embodiment 
of the graces of sympathy, courtesy, unfail- 
ing kindliness, untiring helpfulness. He 
never found out that he was State Superin- 
tendent, or, if so, nobody ever knew it — he 
was simply connected with the Department, 
and came and went pleasantly and comfort- 
ably, like any other of the good men associ- 
ated with him. He gave no orders, com- 
plained of nothing — made requests and 
suggestions at times, as anybody else did — 
and everything was done, done cheerfully, 
and well done, by those about him. 

Men like Dr. Higbee are the product of 
our highest Christian civilization. They are 
not made in the schools, in the shops, on the 
farm, in the mart, or by any process of mere 
educational training whatsoever. They are 
born well — to firm physique and with high 
gifts of heart and brain; their quick in- 
stincts and keen intuitions are sharpened and 
developed amid all the varied influences of 
nature with which they are in ready sympa- 
thy, of home-life with its wide range of 
humane impression, of church-life with its 
spiritual influences, and school-life with its 
vast outlook into the realm of thought and 
language, of literature, of science, of art ; 
and they are especially blessed when to all 
this is added, as was true of our lamented 
friend, on one side the spur of keen interest, 
on the other that of prompt necessity. Dr. 
Higbee was born well. The steel of which 
he was made was of finest quality, could take 
the highest polish and hold the keenest edge. 
Among all the noises of baser coin he had 
always the ring of the true metal. 

He was a poet, as though "born in a 



golden clime with golden stars above." 
He thrilled to the beauty of the little wild- 
flower and to the solemn mystery of the 
star-gemmed sky, as to tones and chords in 
music ; the clod of earth was to him vener- 
able as the rock-ribbed hills ; for him the 
pebble, the drop of water, vegetable life, 
the insect and all the wide range of animal 
life, instinct, intelligence, had its challenge 
of solemn, sacred wonder! When spring 
painted the meadows, when autumn put on 
her livery of glory, when clouds were radiant 
in the flush of sunrise, or crimson and gold 
in the evening sky, his soul reveled in the 
dream of passing loveliness, — in what it was 
and what it shadowed forth to him of hidden 
meaning. Then, indeed, he grew eloquent 
and spoke as from a full heart overflowing 
with gratitude and gladness. 

The finest thing that ever came from the 
brain and heart of Abraham Lincoln was 
his tribute to the dead soldiers on the battle- 
field of Gettysburg. Twenty-five years later, 
on the same historic field, at the re-union 
of the Blue and the Gray, Governor Beaver, 
of Pennsylvania, made what we have re- 
garded his finest address. But better to us 
than his Gettysburg speech is his formal an- 
nouncement to the State of the death of the 
high officer under whom her educational 
forces were proudly marshalled. Here he 
affixes deep the stamp of the great seal of 
the Commonwealth to what has proved a 
life commission to the officer in command. 
Here he announces also an "honorable 
discharge " in terms of extraordinary em- 
phasis, all the more extraordinary that they 
are gratefully recognized as simple truth by 
those who knew best the life and work of 
this great man. 

So, at the call of their Chief Magistrate, 
commander-in-chief of all the forces of the 
State, with arms reversed, flags trailing, 
muffled drum-beat, and the Dead March 
wailing on the air — his broken sword flash- 
ing back the sunlight from the coffin and 
the pall — tens of thousands of his fellow- 
soldiers of the grand army of occupation 
follow his bier, with sympathetic hearts if not 
in bodily presence, as slowly the grand proces- 
sion moves to the burial of their fallen leader. 
Not many chieftains, not many great men 
in Church or State, have gone to their last 
resting-place with truer homage of the heart. 
Pass on, great soul ! we will not say to thy 
reward — for, as we knew thee, thou wast 
ever too modest to claim " reward" — but 
to other fields of labor in the realm of the 
Master whose loyal service has been so long 
thy highest joy ! 



4 6 



DR. E. E. HIGBEE: IN LOVING REMEMBRANCE. 



The funeral services on Monday morning, 
December 16th, at the First Reformed 
church in Lancaster, where he preached his 
first sermon, and on Tuesday morning at 
the Church of the Incarnation in Emmitts- 
burg Maryland, where his last sermon was 
preached, with an interval of thirty-five years 
between them — during which his grand life- 
work was done — were profoundly impressive, 
beyond anything that we have ever known. 
No simulated grief was here, nor shadow of 
sham in what was said or what was sung ; but 
all was real, and every word spoken from the 
heart, as in the very presence of the Spirit of 
Truth. Here was a man who had toiled long 
in the Master's vineyard, a faithful servant ; 
who had dwelt gladly in his Father's house, 
a loyal son, with but one end in life, to 
obey that Father's will as it might be re- 
vealed to him ; to follow as a true son of 
God in the footsteps of his Elder Brother, 
as he might discern them in the sunlight of 
His revealed will or in the starlight of man's 
reason. 

There are thousands of human souls who 
have been blessed in this man's life, who 
are better men and women because this man 
has lived ; and very many of them, who 
knew him intimately, thank God with fervor 
— as did the Rev. Dr. Bausman, standing 
between the bier and the altar — that it was 
their blessed privilege to be permitted to 
know him ! He was indeed a " well about 
which the palm trees flourished." 

What are piles of brick and mortar? 
What are rent-rolls, and stocks, and bonds, 
and mortgages? What are railroads, and 
steamship lines, and great manufacturing 
plants, and all material accumulations and 
belongings whatsoever, when weighed 
against the wealth of such a life as that of 
Dr. Higbee ? These are things after which 
men go madly rushing, that they may have 
upon them, for a few brief years, a hold 
uncertain at the best, but sure to be relaxed 
at death and lost forever. 

Men ask when a so-called rich man dies, 
"How much did he leave behind him?" 
The angels probably inquire, when any good 
man dies, " How much did he bring with 
him?" Like her of Bethany, our dear 
friend Dr. Higbee hath chosen "that good 
part" which shall not be taken away from 
him. And what man possessed of worldly 
wealth in Pennsylvania to-day is so truly 
rich as he ? 

When we think of him as dead — the 
young man who was the life of our mathe- 
matical room a third of a century ago, and 
the genial State Superintendent whose last- 



ing influence for good upon hundreds of 
thousands of souls is acknowledged every- 
where throughout this great Commonwealth 
— it seems a troubled dream from which one 
must soon be awakened. But he comes not 
to the old familiar places ! His voice is 
heard, his smile is seen, no more ! Oh, 
friend ! though thy heroic life be ended 
here, still thou art not dead. To-morrow, 
God grant it, we shall meet again. — -/. P. 
McCaskey, in Pennsylvania School Journal, 
of which Dr. Higbee was Editor. 



BROTHERHOOD OF GENIUS. 

Dr. Higbee was always at home in any 
atmosphere of integrity, whether among the 
unlettered or the learned ; but everywhere, 
with unerring instinct, he recognized the 
kinship of genius. Among men in diverse 
walks of life for whom he had especial ad- 
miration, were George Hetzel, the painter, 
of Pittsburgh; Carl Matz, the musician, of 
Lancaster ; and Herman Strecker, the nat- 
uralist and artist in stone, of Reading, whose 
reputation in his chosen specialty is world- 
wide. We have from Mr. Strecker the 
following tribute to his departed friend : 

"That I have been very much depressed 
by Dr. Higbee's unforeseen death, you may 
well believe. Even at this moment it seems 
as if he were with me. I am writing but a 
few feet from the chair that he occupied 
during his visits ; there he would sit, charm- 
ing me with the versatility of his knowledge, 
with the winning, happy, joyous way in 
which he expressed himself. But it is only 
mentally I am now seeing him — a sound, a 
flicker of the light, and the spell is broken. 
Yet I can scarce realize that the last time he 
was here, not very long since, was indeed 
his last visit. How the hours flew unheeded 
until long past midnight ! 

"I never met any one more intensely 
enthusiastic in regard to what was good and 
beautiful. He had the keenest appreciation 
of everything connected with science and 
art. His quick comprehension of every 
subject pertaining thereto, even of such 
branches as had received no particular 
attention from him, was simply marvelous. 
In discoursing of the works of nature, or 
those resulting from the genius of man, he 
would often hold his attentive hearers as if 
spell-bound, citing incident after incident, 
producing proof upon proof, basing theory 
upon fact ; from the period of the present 
would he lead us back, step by step, to the 
far, shadowy past, or vice versa ; so accur- 
ately was everything systematized, every 



A GOODL Y COMPANY OF FRIENDS. 



47 



salient point brought to its proper bearing, 
even the minute details not overlooked, that 
the listener had not wherewith to add, only 
to hearken and marvel at the God-given 
faculties with which this man was endowed ! 
Be the subject what it might, whether history 
present or past, sacred or profane ; whether 
in science or art ; he seemed equally able to 
instruct and to excite our wondering admi- 
ration. 

"Yet with all this there was in him 
nothing of the pedant. Unobtrusive and 
always averse to what would draw attention 
merely to himself or his labors, yet when 
delivering his lectures or otherwise discours- 
ing on some subject of interest, he spoke, as 
we all know, with a force and an eloquence, 
the offspring of his own sincerity, that was 
conviction itself. 

" Then, above all, was his unflinching 
integrity, his warm-hearted friendship, the 
kindly feeling which evinced itself towards 
all with whom he was brought into contact. 
Even when under most bitter provocation, 
because of undeserved and brutal attack, he 
had not an unkind word to say, nor did 
he by any act show bitterness towards his 
maligners. It was not in his nature ; in his 
great charity he could not bear enmity 
against any man." 



THOSE WHO LOVE LEARNING. 

I am one of the many friends of Dr. Hig- 
bee. I knew him well, and during the 
whole period of our acquaintance enter- 
tained for him a very high regard as an in- 
structor of others, a scholar, and a Christian 
gentleman. I will not speak of him as an 
instructor. Those who in youth had the 
advantage of his learning and powers in this 
line when presiding over the College at 
Mercersburg; and those connected with the 
public schools, since he filled the position 
he held at death, are the proper persons to 
delineate his traits in this direction. I men- 
tion only my impressions of him as a scholar. 

Some years ago, when he was connected 
with the College at Mercersburg, he invited 
me to attend the examination of a graduat- 
ing class. The text-book was Pindar, and 
the recitations from ist Olympiad. It took 
no high degree of classical scholarship to 
feel that he was as familiar with the Olympic 
games as we are with the sports of our sev- 
eral neighborhoods ; and that he knew and 
admired Hieron and his race-horse Phereni- 
kos as much as the presiding genius of a 
race-course in our day, does the rider and 
the horse successful in the struggle. 

But it would be a mistake to conclude 



from his admiration of Pindar, that the 
prince of lyric poets was his only favorite 
among the ancient classics. Had he subju- 
gated Thebes he would, no doubt, have 
acted like 

The great Emathian conqueror (who) bid spare 
The house of Pindarus when temple and tower 
Went to the ground ; 
yet his love for the epic, elegiac, and buco- 
lic poets of classical Greece was as great 
as it was for the lyric. Indeed, he talked to 
me oftener about Theocritus than anv other 
of them, and from his love of rural life and 
scenery, and simplicity of character, he 
could not but have admired him. 

The Idyls of Bion and Moschus, and the 
Elegies of Tystaeus. were as familiar to him 
as are the finest productions of our English 
classic poets from Dryden to Swinburne, to 
the cultivated reader of our tongue. He 
knew Homer and Shakespeare equally well, 
and admired each as supreme in his sphere. 
I have a translation of Meleager's ode to 
Spring, which he made and sent to me on 
the 6th of April, 1878, beautifully done 
and full of the spirit of the original. 

His death is a source of sadness to his 
friends for the many reasons mentioned 
from the pulpit, in your Journal, and in the 
public prints generally ; but there is a grief 
which is peculiar to those who were his inti- 
mates. There are those who love learning 
and long for it more than for bread. It is 
not a numerous class in this age of greed 
and money-getting, but to those of us who 
knew him well, he was more than a brother. 
I was one of a company of friends who used 
to meet in friendly concourse in Franklin 
county when he lived there. Prominent 
among them were Rev. Dr. Davis, Hon. 
D. Watson Rowe, Hon. John Stewart, Dr. 
Samuel G. Lane, and Dr. Higbee. Death's 
doings have dissipated this friendly union. 
The first to go was Dr. Lane. I called to 
see him as soon as I heard that the hand of 
death was on him, and as soon as utterance 
was allowed him by the pangs that enthralled 
him, he said, "Well, Brady, Charon and the 
obolus;" and just afterwards, when another 
cessation of pain ensued — 

I see a hand thou canst not see, 
That beckons me away. 
From Lucian to Tennyson he passed, oh, 
how quickly ! and he died, leaving behind 
him the record of an industrious, unselfish, 
honorable life, loved in every household he 
ever entered, esteemed most justly the fore- 
most member of his profession and regarded 
as one of the most eminent men his county 
i has yet produced. 



4» 



DR. E. E. HIGBEE: IN LOl'/XG REMEMBRANCE. 



He was the most intimate of all of us with 
Dr. Higbee, and next to him in culture, and 
his equal in natural ability. Now the latter 
has gone. Who the next will be none can 
tell ; but how natural it is for the surviving 
friends of those esteemed most highly for 
learning and culture, and Christian worth, 
to long and hope for their society beyond the 
grave. " O prseclarum diem, cum ad ilium 
divinum animorum concilium ccetumque 
proficiscar, cumque ex hac turba et col- 
luvione discedam ! proficiscar enim * * * 
ad Catonem meum, quo nemo vir melior 
natus est, nemo pietate praestantior."* — 
Hon. A. B. Sharpe, Carlisle, Pa. 



HE SPOKE OF LATE AS NEVER BEFORE. 

Dr. Higbee had been in office but a few 
weeks when I was elected to the Principal- 
ship of this school. I had never met him 
before, but during the past nine years I have 
been much with him, and under many dif- 
ferent circumstances. I suspect that few 
outside of his personal and official family 
have had better opportunities of knowing 
him. But well as I knew him, I never ceased 
to be surprised at the wide range of his cul- 
ture and scholarship. He was as familiar 
with the abstruse points of the differential 
calculus and the technicalities of modern 
chemistry as he was with the broad culture 
of philology and philosophy. There seemed 
to be no subject in which he was not an ex- 
pert. And then with all his ability, with 
all his culture, he was as humble and as 
gentle as a little child. He was himself 
so free from guile, so free from anything 
that was insincere, that he was almost too 
unsuspicious of and confiding in others. 
Yet this was one of the most beautiful traits 
of his character. But best of all was his 
pure heart, and the high moral and religious 
tone of his thought and life. I have been 
with him in many places and in a great 
variety of circumstances, but I never saw 
anything of him that was not noble, pure 
and good. 

It seemed to me that he spoke to Institutes 
during the past fall as he had never done 
before. At Norristown, in October, he 
spoke so forcibly, and yet so touchingly, 
upon the duty of the teacher to the moral 
and spiritual, as well as to the physical and 
intellectual nature of the child, that at the 

* Oh, illustrious day, when I shall set out for that 
heavenly council and assemblage of souls — when I 
shall depart from this turbulent crowd, this hog- 
wash of vice ! For I shall go * * * to that Cato of 
mine, than whom there is no better man born, nor any 
more excellent for piety. — Cato Major. 



close of his address I said, "Dr. Higbee, 
I have heard you speak many times, and al- 
ways well, but never as you spoke to day." 
Teachers elsewhere heard him speak in the 
same way, and I am sure that he would 
have wanted to be remembered by these last 
words. He died just as he would have 
prayed to die, " in the harness." It seems to 
us that he was called away too soon, that he 
ought to have been spared to us for many 
useful years yet ; but his good Father, whom 
he always delighted to honor before all men, 
knows best. His life was one of honor and 
usefulness, his death was the death of the 
righteous, and about his memory is the 
fragrance of good deeds and of a pure life. — 
Dr. G. M. Philips, Principal State Normal 
School, West Chester, Pa. 



HIS GOOD WORK FOR ARBOR DAY. 

While Pennsylvania is the chief mourner 
at the grave of Dr. Higbee, his death is a 
national loss. His ability and efficiency, 
his enthusiasm and success, gave inspiration 
and encouragement to the leading educators 
of the country. A profound and original 
thinker, he had the courage of his convic- 
tions, and spoke as one having the authority 
of truth and right on his side. Conscious 
of integrity and the soul of honor, though 
he came out of the furnace as gold tried in 
the fire, when "place seekers" bitterly as- 
sailed his character — which was dearer to 
him than life — their cruel aspersions pierced 
his sensitive nature and shortened his use- 
ful life. It shows his noble Christ-like 
character and forgiving spirit, that no word 
of vindictiveness escaped his lips, and that 
he spoke kindly of those who had so deeply 
wronged him. 

At a Pennsylvania Institute some six years 
ago, after I had spoken of Arbor Day as an 
educational force, he accepted these sug- 
gestions, ably advocated their general adop- 
tion, and pledged his earnest cooperation. 
How grandly did he redeem this promise ! 
It is due to his enthusiastic efforts that since 
that date Pennsylvania has observed Arbor 
Day in the schools more generally and suc- 
cessfully, and more frequently, than any other 
State in the Union — for Pennsylvania is the 
only State that observes Arbor Day both in 
the Spring and in the Autumn. 

No State School Superintendent during 
the last five years has written so much and 
so ably on this subject as Dr. Higbee. 
Arbor Day is now observed in several for- 
eign countries; but no educational journal 
in the world has published so many articles 
on the aims and advantages of Arbor Day 



HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF TREES. 



49 



as The Pennsylvania School Journal. A 
large share of these articles was evidently 
from the facile pen of Dr. Higbee. 

The statement that over 300 000 trees 
were planted on the ten Arbor Days ob- 
served in Pennsylvania hardly suggests the 
broad and wide-spreading influence he thus 
initiated. The improvement of home and 
school grounds and roadsides by the plant- 
ing of so many trees — however important 
this may be — is of minor consequence. Dr. 
Higbee, with his ardent love of nature, his 
desire to lead youth to study and observe 
common things, his poetic spirit, his appre- 
ciation of the higher wants of the juvenile 
heart, aimed thus to improve minds even 
more than the grounds. Hence, he urged 
children to start little nurseries in their 
gardens and plant not only trees, but tree 
seeds, acorns, and nuts, that they might 
observe the wonderful miracles which the 
tree-life they have started is working out 
before them. What interest and profit, 
what growth of mind and heart many of 
the planters of these 300,000 trees will yet 
gain as they watch the mysterious forces of 
these vital germs — their assimilating power 
transforming coarse earth into living forms 
of surpassing beauty ! — Hon. B. G. Northrop, 
C Union, Connecticut. 



BRIGHTEST AND SUNNIEST FACE. 

In compliance with the suggestion of a 
Memorial, I contribute a single stone to the 
cairn which you are building in honor of 
Dr. Higbee. I most deeply regret that my 
opportunities of personal acquaintance with 
our late friend were not more numerous. 
We met principally at conventions at rather 
rare intervals ; but such meetings were al- 
ways most delightful to me. 

Our acquaintance was begun at a dinner 
party in this city, and of many genial gen- 
tlemen around that festive board, his was 
the brightest and sunniest face. We went 
together to Washington, and I never had a 
more interesting traveling companion. In 
the Department of Superintendency next 
day his paper was acknowledged to be one 
of the most thoughtful and most eloquent. 
I never had the pleasure of hearing him 
preach ; but I have been told by those capa- 
ble of judging, that, in addition to their lit- 
erary merits, his sermons were distinguished 
by an earnest Christian spirit, which often 
rose into impassioned eloquence. Of his 
services as an educator and as a director of 
education it is unnecessary to speak. They 
have passed into history. Thousands of 
teachers and tens of thousands of children 



will delight to remember his calm judgment, 
his broad sympathies, his inextinguishable 
good humor, his love of goodness and truth, 
his untiring and successful efforts to serve 
the cause of humanity, in whatever position 
Providence placed him. — Hon. M. A. New- 
ell, State Superintendent Public Instruction, 
Baltimore, Maryland. 



GRAND WORK AT MERCERSBURG. 

The following paper is from the pen of 
Prof. J. B. Kerschner, who was closely as- 
sociated with Dr. Higbee in his work at 
Mercersburg. There is probably no one 
who is more competent to write the history 
of this important era in the life of our late 
State Superintendent. The service rendered 
in the high office to which he was after- 
wards called was all the more effective be- 
cause of the intense strain, and toil, and 
blessed results of this life at Mercersburg. 
Prof. Kerschner writes : 

Dr. Higbee came to Mercersburg in 1864, to 
fill the position of Professor of Church History, 
etc., left temporarily vacant by our venerable 
teacher, Dr. Schaff. There I met him for the 
first time, on my return to that place to assume 
certain duties in the Theological Seminary. 
He came in April, 1 in November, of that year. 
At once with his characteristic kindness he re- 
ceived me into the circle of his friends, and in 
his house I enjoyed unnumbered hours of the 
sweetest social pleasure. Our friendship was 
based, at first, perhaps, on a certain community 
of studies ; for although he was then deeply 
plunged into the massive tomes of the Church 
Historians, his duties in the department of New 
Testament Exegesis led him into fields of study 
adjacent or identical with my own. 

It seemed to me that he had always been a 
master of the Latin language ; and good ser- 
vice did it render him in his calling. I see him 
yet poring over those stout Migne volumes of 
the Fathers, over the Magdeburg Centuries, 
and especially over the mighty Hospinian for 
the sacramental controversies of the era of the 
Reformation. Rut like Iphigenia 

1 las I and der < -riechen mit der Seele suchend.* 

he was always pressing on in his mastering of 
the Hellenic literature, in which, during the 
course of his labors in Mercersburg, he attained 
a rare proficiency. Dr. Higbee had in the very 
depths of his soul an impulse to thoroughness; 
he was contented with no half-way excellency; 
hence he surrounded himself, to the utmost of 
his ability, with the means and aids of scholar- 
ship, and used them with the vigor and delight 
of the born student. 

It may interest some under whose eyes these 
lines may come, to know that during these 
years Dr. Henry Harbaugh, of blessed memory, 
held the chair of Didactic Theology at Mercers- 
burg. Haud ulli veterum virtute secundus, 



Seeking the land of the Greeks with all her soul. 






5° 



DR. E. E. HIGBEE: IN LOVING REMEMBRANCE. 



this great man had something Titanic in his 
nature ; he was felt by all to be a tower of 
strength in the Church, was in the ripest de- 
velopment of his powers, at the very acme of 
his vast usefulness, but alas ! was near the end 
of his life's endless toil and endeavor; he died 
December 30th, 1867. Into such a company, 
as a third, my " wenigkeit" was admitted. 

The sparsely occupied Seminary building it- 
self, the halls at the south end of the town, the 
fine roomy preparatory building, all monuments 
of the zeal and liberality of a noble band of 
workers who now rest from their labors, con- 
fronted these faithful and earnest men. The 
thought powerfully seized them that these build- 
ings might be refilled ; that these long corridors 
might echo the footsteps of academic youth ; 
that these toil erected structures might be saved 
from decay, and the work of the pious dead 
might be rescued from oblivion. Thus Mer- 
cersburg College was founded, and Rev. Thos. 
G. Apple, then pastor at Greencastle, now the 
venerable and beloved Coryphaeus of the in- 
stitutions at Lancaster, was called to preside 
over its destinies. The teaching force of the 
Seminary assisted him, as their time allowed 
or their inclination prompted. Dr. Higbee was 
now incessant in labors, tireless in his efforts. 
Watering others, he was himself abundantly 
watered. He refreshed and enlarged his col- 
lege course ; he made great strides in breadth 
and accuracy of knowledge, but was uncon- 
sciously only preparing for greater things. 

Thus eight delightful years of my friend's 
life passed away in that uneventful quiet that 
marks the student's existence; to me also de- 
lightful then, and delightful now to look back 
upon, save that 

A feeling of sadness and longing, 

That is not akin to pain, 
And resembles sorrow only 

As the mist resembles rain, 

comes over the spirit, when I remember that 
both of these eminent men, whom I am thank- 
ful that I can call my friends, are removed 
forever from the scenes of their earthly labors. 
In the spring of 1871 the theological students 
dispersed, to meet no more in their old quarters 
at Mercersburg ; Lancaster was henceforth to 
be their home, as it had been that of most of 
them during their collegiate years. At this im- 
portant juncture, Dr. Higbee thought that the 
voice of duty bade him remain with the young 
and promising institution which he had helped 
to establish ; and, as Dr. Apple at that time 
resigned his position, he naturally became his 
successor. This exchange of positions, viewed 
from the standpoint of ordinary prudence, 
looked like the sheerest folly. His labors had 
been vastly increased; his anxieties were end- 
less; his remuneration was smaller; the dis- 
cipline of the college, no light burden when 
faithfully discharged, rested mainly upon him ; 
he was a committee of ways and means where 
such seemed not to exist; his duties were often 
harassing, always incessant. But his faithful- 
ness to duty and to conscience was the highest 
wisdom nobly rewarded. In no case, if he had I 



under such conditions retained his easy place, 
could he have become the man he was after- 
wards known to be in the Church and in the 
State; whatever he might have been, or might 
have known, never could he have become ac- 
quainted with the celestial powers which deign 
to visit only those who " eat their bread with 
tears." 

In the course of the ten years during which 
he was at the head of Mercersburg College, he 
completed his own education, in a wide sense. 
Not only had he now become well acquainted 
with the wealth of classical literature, but he 
had studied, and taught classes in Psychology, 
Logic, ^Esthetics, Ethics, the history of Philos- 
ophy ; he had made studies in the Philosophy 
of History and the Theory of Education ; while 
his duties as pastor of the chapel congregation, 
and in the post-graduate course, kept him in 
living communication with all departments of 
Theology. He gained new and valuable ex- 
perience in dealing with youth and in aiding 
them in the formation of character. If the ma- 
terial with which he formerly had to do in the 
Seminary came to him after their characters had 
been to a great extent fixed by a college exper- 
ience, such was now no longer the case. The 
students of Mercersburg College came under 
his influence long before they came to recite to 
him; but it was chiefly in his own class-room 
that he exerted his greatest, happiest influence. 
I need not say that for the most part his pupils 
idolized him; he won their hearts entirely, and 
few indeed are those of them who did not grow 
in affection and reverence for their old teacher 
as they grew in manhood and in years. But 
the chapel — dear to the hearts of all Mercers- 
burg students, and enshrined in their memories 
as the jewel of their academic life — was the 
scene of Dr. Higbee's severest labors, of his 
dearest joys, and of his noblest spiritual victor- 
ies. It happened during the last few years of 
his connection with the college that the duties 
of the pastorate of the college chapel congrega- 
tion fell almost entirely upon him. It seems 
really beyond belief that a pastor, no matter 
what his ability might be, should be able, after 
teaching profound and difficult branches of 
science for from twenty to twenty-five hours 
weekly, to preach two sermons in addition, for 
a number of months together, or even the whole 
academic year : and a preacher so over-worked, 
so weighed down with care and anxiety, would 
justly be excused if he preached indifferently, or 
if he preached not at all. But there was no- 
thing perfunctory in Dr. Higbee's discourses; 
on the contrary, they were characterized by the 
highest freedom and power, were wonderfully 
fresh and incisive. Many of those discourses 
are still remembered for their intense earnest- 
ness and eloquence. Through the chapel he 
still speaks, and long will continue to speak to 
the churches. 

Dr. Higbee's homiletic resources seemed 
absolutely inexhaustible. When in fair bodily 
strength (he never enjoyed robust health), with 
time to prepare his sermons, he was the equal 
of the greatest pulpit orators of our land. No 
doubt many still remember the impressively 



CENTRE OF GRA VI TY OF HIS WORK. 



eloquent discourse delivered before the Synod 
of Winchester in November, 1876. 

It was during these laborious years that he 
was appointed chairman of a committee to pre- 
pare suitable tunes for the new hymn-book of 
the Reformed Church. He spared neither 
money nor labor faithfully to meet and discharge 
this important duty. He surrounded himself 
not with music of the Shawm and Dulcimer 
style, but with the very best in use in England 
and Germany. It was a labor of love, a spirit- 
ual recreation, and he toiled over a great mass 
of material most assiduously, most intelligently. 
He knew what he wanted — "immortal music 
married to immortal verse;" and he often 
found it. It is deeply to be regretted that the 
results of the labors of that committee were not 
given to the Church, as then we would have 
had a collection of tunes siiitable to that unriv- 
aled hymn-book — a better collection of tunes 
than is now before the American churches. 
Thus nine full years of his life were passed in 
the most strenuous endeavor, and brought with 
them the reward of a wider and more accurate 
scholarship, a deeper insight into the nature 
and methods of education, and a great disci- 
pline of his own spirit. 

He was then called, as State Superintendent, 
to a wider field of usefulness. If in that great field 
he knew scarcely a face ; if, as had been said, 
it required consummate generalship successfully 
to take command of those forty thousand teach- 
ers and school officers, he certainly had every 
necessary qualification except personal acquaint- 
ance. He had passed through every grade, from 
private tutor and teacher of a public school, up 
to positions of highest difficulty, responsibility, 
and honor, Of his walk in this great office, of 
his success or want of it, I leave it to the officers 
and school men of Pennsylvania to speak. His 
wishes and hopes were of a two-fold character; 
on the one hand, to see the Public Schools of the 
Commonwealth, with all their collateral inter- 
ests, developed to their highest possibility; on 
the other, to effect, or at least to aid in effecting, 
an integration of all the educational interests of 
the State, that as properly correlated organs of 
the one body, they might co-operate for the ad- 
vancement of the body politic ; that the ad- 
vanced culture of the higher might be brought 
to aid and strengthen the lower. Whether he 
at all succeeded in this last respect, is not for me 
to say, but the end was important, and " worth 
the sweat of the noble." 

Per asfiera ad astra ! The whole life of Dr. 
Higbee was an illustration of this painful but 
glorious truth. At an unusually early age he 
was cast wholly on his own resouices. He 
worked faithfully for all he received. At Bethel, 
at Tiffin, his salary was pitifully small ; but his 
inward life was rich, and his ministry was a 
success. He was greatly beloved. Still more 
severe was the outward struggle at Pittsburgh ; 
duty and the solace of friendship alone sus- 
tained him. At Mercersburg, while pecuniarily 
somewhat more favorably situated, his career 
was an heroic struggle. He passed through 
deep troubles, but he labored to conquer his 
spirit. While State Superintendent he was 



called to see the last formed, and sweetest bond 
of natural affection dissolved by death — he 
mourned the loss of his oldest son. A political 
intrigue of the vilest description sought to smirch 
his official, perhaps also his personal character. 
This truly infernal persecution-^?<?r/t'7 r si nequeo 
superos, Acheronta movebo — ended by strength- 
ening his faith in God, and the faith of all good 
people in him; his reappointment was his public 
vindication. But it was a sight worthy of the 
gods to see this singularly incorrupt man strug- 
gling with those " beasts of Ephesus ;" and a 
sight for tears to see the sordidness of the press 
of Pennsylvania, with but three or four noble 
exceptions, as it unconcernedly beheld or aided 
this attempt to blast the character of a high 
State official. The sweet fruit of all this pain- 
ful but salutary experience was calmness and 
strength of spirit; but his more recent conflict 
had shown him with, if possible, more clearness 
than ever, that the centre of gravity of his work 
lay in the moral and religious strengthening of 
the teachers and children of the State. 

In Dr. Higbee's nature the external and in- 
ternal in religion were blended into an unique 
unity. All that the fine arts could do for reli- 
gion and for the service of the Church was dear 
to him. The beautiful edifice — for him eine 
erstarrte musik — devout paintings, the deep- 
blowing organ supported by trumpets and mas- 
sive choirs ; all of eloquence and poesy that 
the power of the human spirit revealed in the 
sacred orator could bring, was thrice welcome if 
made and done in the spirit of sincerity and 
truth. But if he thought that pomp or pride or 
self were behind it all, no matter how fair out- 
wardly, it was to him as the taste of brass. The 
"blind mouths" he could rebuke with the 
severity of the mitred " pilot of the Galilean 
lake." In the church and out of it he despised 
what he called bread-and-butter science ; 
money was not his aim, and he was generous 
to a fault. He carried high the standard of his 
own personal and official rectitude, a veritable 
Nehemiah in this respect, and urged it upon his 
theological students to do likewise. He used 
to say that he was naturally a Methodist. Per- 
sonal religion was all in all to him ; the emo- 
tional element of his nature was highly de- 
veloped. No pomp, no outward beauty or 
grandeur, could atone for the want of sincere 
devoutness of spirit. In this regard he was a son 
of the Puritans to the last. But, unlike them, 
he loved the Church and all its high festivals. 

The Church Year was to him an idea of un- 
utterable grandeur ; but above its general level 
towered the great Christian Festivals— Christ- 
mas, Easter, the Ascension and Pentecost — like 
mountain peaks, bathed in eternal glory. As 
often as those glorious days came round, when 
it was his dmy to set forth their meaning, it 
seemed as if the angel who touched Isaiah's 
hallowed lips, resumed his function as a minis- 
tering spirit. The preacher's tongue was on 
fire, his imagination ablaze with the sublime 
significance of the day for the Master, for the 
Church, and humanity. The warmth of devout 
emotion illuminated also another day of the 
Church Year, All-Saints' day, " saintly day of 



52 



DR. E. E. BIG BEE: IN LOVING REMEMBRANCE. 



saintly men." Every Hallowe'en found the 
Chapel congregation in the sanctuary, and the 
holy significance of the day was rescued for 
many. The hymn always used on these occa- 
sions was " Light's abo$e, celestial Salem," 
with the old Latin music, so tender, pathetic, 
and withal so grand. The unusual strength of 
his natural affection, purified by Divine grace, 
and supported by the facts of Christianity, kept 
him in near communion with the spirit world. 
Thither had preceded him father, mother, sister, 
two of his children, and many dear friends. He 
loved to think of them and of the life of the 
world" to come. This is shown by his, as I 
think, favorite hymn, one of those glorious 
heaven-hymns. I give the first verse only : 

On the fount oflife eternal gazing wistful and athirst, 
Yearning, striving from the prison of confining flesh 

to burst, 
Here the soul an exile sighs for her native Paradise. 

" Blessed are the homesick, for they shall get 
home." This trait of his spirit had been deep- 
ened by many years of frail health. He longed 
for rest'. But not here ; he was determined to 
work as long as his day lasted. He could not 
be induced to spare himself. It was best so. 
He fell like a hero, on the field where duty 
called him. The final conflict was short and 
decisive. We may assume that he was spared 
the real bitterness of death. . . But it is all so 
quickly over. A few short years ago, a man in the 
splendid fulness of his powers — now, a name ! 
We are such stuff 

As dreams are made on, and our little life 

Is rounded with a sleep ! 
The spirit is oppressed. It is all an enigma, 
dark and terrible, till seen in the light of the holy 
Easter morn. Thanks be to God who giveth 
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ ! 



GOLDEN "WHATEVERS OF ST. PAUL. 

Without exaggeration it can be said that 
I knew Dr. Higbee right well as a man, a 
scholar and an educator, having often been 
associated with him on the educational plat- 
form in teachers' institutes, in superintend- 
ents' conventions, in the National Council 
of Education, in which he most honorably 
represented his State, and having had the 
rare pleasure and lasting benefit of frequently 
of discussing with him many questions 
of scholarly interest that spring from the 
field of broad learning and of critical schol- 
arship. 

As acqaintance grew and ripened into 
friendship, the noble qualities of the man 
shone brighter, emphatically impressing me 
with the fact that there was nothing in him 
small, narrow or pedantic. To say that he 
was one of nature's noblemen in mind and 
soul, seems hardly enough to write on this 
occasion. His intellectual equipment was 
not made up of crude, second-hand material ; 
but all of the vast store he had received had 



passed through the assimilating process of a 
remarkably strong intellect, and received the 
characteristic impress of his individuality. 

As an educator, he moved in the clear, 
bracing atmosphere of general principles, 
which enabled him to give a spirit of dig- 
nity, force and progress to the cause of edu- 
cation, in which he was a scholar of acknowl- 
edged ability. His official visits to our 
city were always occasions of fruitful enjoy- 
ment to scholars and teachers. 

In reviewing his public and social life, I 
can think of nothing that so fully reflects 
his character as a man and a Christian, as 
the golden "whatevers" of St. Paul, closing 
thus, "If there be any virtue, and if there 
be any praise, think on these things." — 
Supt. H. S. Jones, Erie, Pa. 



INCIDENT AT NATIONAL CONVENTION. 

Were it an expression of veneration and 
esteem of the late Dr. Higbee to a personal 
friend, how difficult the task ! To give an 
adequate expression of the same before the 
world — the task is hopeless. 

That man is pre-eminent who can main- 
tain among those who know him most inti- 
mately, and therefore best, a character that, 
in no respect, occasions the repression of a 
hidden wish that some characteristic, un- 
known to the world, did not exist to mar 
what would otherwise be irreproachable ; 
and such a man was Dr. Higbee. He im- 
pressed himself in a wonderful degree upon 
all who listened to his voice, whether in 
conversation or upon the platform. Two 
years ago, while in attendance at the 
National Department of Superintendence at 
Washington, after Dr. Higbee had spoken 
from the floor upon a question before the 
Association, a number of the Washington 
teachers expressed a wish to me that they 
might meet him, as the man had so impressed 
them. When the desired introduction had 
been given, the Doctor gave them one of 
his most incisive talks upon what prepara- 
tion the teacher should make, especially in 
the line of literature and higher education. 
I have never heard any other presentation 
of the subject that was so forcible, that 
showed more remarkable familiarity with 
the world's masterpieces from the earliest 
times, arranged so logically that their study 
in the precise order as mentioned by him 
seemed indispensable. My heart swelled 
with pride for the Common School Depart- 
ment of the old Keystone State as I saw the 
effect of his words upon his auditors. There 
was an inspiration never equalled elsewhere 
in my experience. 



CHURCH YEAR AND HYMNOLOGY. 



5 3 



His institute and off-hand talks were 
models of classic English, and his manner of 
presentation of the subject in hand was, to 
my mind, inimitable. For every school 
officer and teacher in the State, under every 
circumstance, was the sustaining thought 
that at the head of the School Department 
there was limitless strength, sympathy, and 
support. 

Every worthy occupant of the position of 
State Superintendent of Public Instruction 
has marked it with his own individuality. 
The impress of Dr. Higbee's scholastic at- 
tainments, practical common sense, and 
grasp of detail, made Pennsylvania, as I 
think, first among the departments of public 
instruction in the country at large. When 
such a man dies, the educational forces of 
the nation recognize the loss. How truly 
might his epitaph be the line from his 
favorite Horace: 

Exegi monumentum xre perennius! 
Supt. G. W. Phillips, Scranton, Pa. 



REVISION OF CHURCH HYMN-BOOK. 

The following tribute to the memory of 
Dr. Higbee from his intimate friend Hon. L. 
H. Steiner, M. D., Librarian of the Enoch 
Pratt Free Library of Baltimore, which we 
take from a late issue of the German Re- 
formed Messenger, will be recognized, says 
the editor, as befitting and worthv. In a 
private letter Mr. Steiner says: "Dr. Hig- 
bee had so grown into my friendship that I 
know not when we first met. We must 
have then attained the age of manhood, but 
from the first meeting we knew each other. 
As time passed by our intimacy increased, 
and my knowledge of his native genius and 
encyclopedic abilities grew. And with it 
all, he was so unpretentious, so genial and 
so open-hearted in his relations to every 
class in the community, so full of sympathy 
for the suffering, so full of enthusiasm for 
all kinds of work, whether intellectual, re- 
ligious, or social !" We quote as follows : 

An elegant English scholar, a profound 
theologian, a successful educator, an accom- 
plished gentleman, a warm-hearted friend, and 
an earnest Christian, has been called away from 
his earthly labors to his heavenly reward. 
While bowed down with sadness at the thought 
that we shall no longer encounter his genial 
smile and cheerful voice and feel the warm 
grasp of his hand, memory brings up a host of 
recollections of past associations with Dr. Hig- 
bee, always dear, but henceforward to be dearer 
than ever. 

Of good New England stock, his engraftment 
into the Reformed Church seemed to be abso- 
lutely perfect. The graft retained its own 



native energy and Yankee vim, while it was 
modified and vivified by a different vitality 
which coursed through all its parts. And so he 
became as real a son of the Reformed Church 
by adoption as he would have become by 
heredity. 

How faithful he was to whatever duties were 
imposed upon him was known to all his friends 
and associates. He disdained superficial investi- 
gation, but would delve and delve until he had 
attained the profoundest knowledge of the sub- 
ject under consideration. And then, how trans- 
parently clear would be his statement of the 
results ! There was no obscuration of ideas 
with empty or high-sounding phrases. His 
thoughts always found expression in the purest 
and choicest English, in and through which 
would flash bright scintillations of genuine 
poetic fire. He was not a prosaist, nor was he 
ever prosy, but of such a poetic nature that the 
dullest subjects became clad with bright at- 
tractions and aglow with interest, when he took 
them in charge. 

"Hymns for the Reformed Church'' in its 
present form would have been an impossibility, 
had he not first made such an excellent study 
of the theory and construction of the Church 
Year, on which the collection was to be based. 
But with the way for the work cleared by his 
previous study, the duty imposed upon the sub- 
committee of three, who made the compilation, 
was comparatively light. And, through all the 
work of the committee, his quiet, intuitive ap- 
preciation of what should be put in hymnic 
form for the worshipper, with his thorough ac- 
quaintance with the best that had been done by 
the hymnologists on the special subject under 
consideration, were of the greatest value. 
Moreover, when the idea seemed not to have 
been expressed in suitable verse, his own pen 
put into poetic form, with great rapidity, the 
thoughts that were deemed most appropriate. 
Several hymns, now in the collection, were thus 
written under a momentary inspiration, which 
was startling to his associates. 

His students, whether of the clergy or the 
laity, are ready to bear testimony to the great 
value of his teachings, not only for the direct 
information which he gave, but still more for the 
inspiration which they received from his lips, 
and which so curiously afterwards shaped their 
work in life. 

In his position as Superintendent of Educa- 
tion in a great State, he had done much to har- 
monize all portions of the same, and to break 
down the antagonisms supposed to exist be- 
tween the public schools and the colleges. But 
this was only the beginning of what might have 
been expected from him, if his large and liberal 
views and constructive spirit had been allowed 
time enough to formulate and execute what 
would be needed to bind schools and acad- 
emies and colleges in one common system of 
education, complete and perfect at each stage, 
but always looking upward to a higher one 
more adapted to satisfy the wants of the am- 
bitous young American. May the foundations 
he laid be so widely built upon that the Key- 
stone State shall attain in this department the 



54 



DR. E. E. HI G BEE: IN LOVING REMEMBRANCE. 



same enviable greatness she has in so many 
others ! 

I have said nothing of him as a pulpit orator; 
but who that has ever heard him, when, aglow 
with poetic fire, his utterances became brilliant 
with a vivid rhetoric ornamenting his earnest 
logic, and were enforced by an oratory which 
was of the most captivating character, — could 
doubt that he occupied a place among the first 
in his Church and in the country ? 

I dare not speak of him as a friend, for 
words can not enshrine the feelings enter- 
tained by those who were honored with the 
friendship of such Christian brothers as Higbee 
and Harbaugh, a friendship that brought with it 
so warm a benediction. Peace to their ashes ! 
May their memory be ever dear to the Church ! 



DR. HIGBEE, OUR ARIiOR DAY SUPERIN- 
TENDENT. 

Near the end of the programme for Arbor 
Day at the Lancaster High School, April 
i r, 1890, the Principal, Mr. J. P. McCaskey, 
spoke of Dr. Higbee's work in connection 
with Arbor Day, and gave some incidents 
not generally known, showing his interest 
in his yard and garden, and the bird-life, etc., 
about him. His remarks were as follows: 

Of the ten poorest men in Lancaster, probably 
six live in big houses and have a good bank 
account. They don't suspect their hopeless 
poverty; but the shrewd world makes its own 
comment while they live and when they are 
gone. Few human hearts, if any, care whether 
they live or die. But when a good man goes 
beyond, — whose life has been one round of 
loving benefaction ; whose smile has been sun- 
shine because " his heart has had a look south- 
ward to the whole noon of nature;" whose 
thoughts have dwelt much upon eternal things, 
and whose desire has been only for whatsoever 
is true, honest, just, pure, lovely, and of good 
report, — what a contrast is presented ! Then 
again poverty and sham stand forth revealed; 
and the dignity of man, "made in the image of 
God," is once more vindicated. 

It is good to know good men — to be near a 
man who has been a great blessing to his fellows. 
We have here been very near to such a man — 
and I would not have you forgetful of your 
great privilege. One of the best things this 
man ever did was to introduce the observance 
of Arbor Day into the great State of Pennsyl- 
vania — with its cumulative benefits through the 
years, and, I trust, through the centuries. Other 
men gave him their generous aid in this great 
work, but the enduring honor of being our 
Arbor Day State Superintendent of Public In- 
struction belongs to him alone, and as such he 
will continue to be gratefully recognized in the 
years to come. 

But I wish now to speak of Dr. Higbee in a 
relation very different from this. His love of 
nature was an inborn trait in his strong person- 
ality, an instinct which was the secret of his 
keen powers of observation as well as his quick 
apprehension of truth and beauty and goodness 



wherever found. Some facts have come to our 
knowledge since his death which present an- 
other phase of his many-sided nature and which 
we have thought proper to present to you to-day 
— his work in his yard and garden, his care for 
the birds, and his joy in the life manifest every- 
where about him. 

At Tiffin, Ohio, where he was at one time 
preacher and teacher, he built a house, in the 
construction of which he drew upon his ample 
resources to make it a model of convenience 
and comfort. The surroundings received his 
attention from the start, and the yard seemed 
to grow up with the house; so that by the time 
it was finished, the grass, the terraced lawn, the 
trees, the shrubs, and the flowers were there to 
prevent any feeling of strangeness of things 
new, and to add the charm of that beauty which 
he ever associated with the idea of Home. 

At Mercersburg he had a large garden and 
yard. In the midst of his manifold duties — 
teaching for the greater part of the time five 
hours a day, besides evening lectures and exer- 
cises, and preaching often twice a week — he 
gave loving attention to the improvement of his 
grounds. With his own hands he labored, and* 
the college bell, summoning him to the class- 
room for a lecture on Ethics, /Esthetics, or 
some other of the numerous branches he was 
teaching, often found him with his coat off, and 
with hoe, rake, spade, or scythe, working hard 
to make the most of his rare moments of leisure. 

What a delight he took in his garden ! The 
first signs of Spring set him to digging and 
planting, and he was always among the first 
with his early vegetables. His pleasure was 
complete to see them grow, and to furnish them 
for the enjoyment of others. It was no uncom- 
mon sight to see him, during a warm spring rain, 
walking about in the garden under an umbrella, 
poking in the ground to see whether the beans 
were sprouting, and marking the growth of the 
plants, " fairly leaping out of the ground," as he 
used to say. " I think I can see them growing," 
was a frequent expression with him. If there 
was danger of a frost — and he was rarely de- 
ceived in his weather prognostications — he 
would go out at night with a lantern, and care- 
fully protect the tender sproutlings with paper 
or boards against the killing cold. 

His yard had nothing artificial about it, and 
yet everywhere could be noticed the evidence 
of unflagging care bestowed upon it. Trees, 
flowers — a magnificent bed of choice roses — 
shrubs and vines were there, flourishing under 
the watchful care which he gave them. He 
was sure to discover the first opening blossom 
and bring it with beaming countenance to grace 
the breakfast table. 

The first notes of the Spring songsters would 
strike his quick ear and send him hurrying 
forth to greet them. He had a tender regard 
for the birds, and could tell them every one, 
knew their habits, where they nested, etc. There 
was an old tree in the yard, rapidly falling into 
decay, and an eyesore to his cultivated taste, 
but he would not cut it down because it was the 
favorite nesting-place of a Baltimore oriole for 
whose return he eagerly looked at the opening 



CLOSE AND REAL KIXSHIP WITH NATURE. 



>S 



of every Summer. He took out a brick from 
under his library window that a wren might be 
tempted to make its nest there, and for years 
this sheltered retreat was occupied by the little 
bird. This nest was to him an object of very 
great interest. Year after year he looked for 
the coming of the wren and welcomed it gladly. 
He put up small boxes all about in suitable 
places for the convenience of his little feathered 
neighbors and acquaintance ; and they went to 
housekeeping everywhere as if they appreciated 
his good-will and felt themselves safe under his 
protection. The robin, the oriole, and the red- 
winged tanager were among his especial favor- 
ites, and every Springtime he watched for the 
return of these and other birds with keen ex- 
pectancy. 

The work in his grounds at Mercersburg was 
all done by himself. His flower-beds were his 
delight. His roses, already referred to, were 
chosen for beauty of contrast and fragrance. 
He seemed never happier than when among 
them, or when gathering them to adorn the table 
or the house. His garden also was the scene of 
his most active labors. He was not more inter- 
ested in fruit and shade trees and grape vines, 
than in his peas and beans, his tomatoes and 
strawberries. He had so great respect for them 
all, that he wanted no vandal hand or foot to 
invade the sacred precincts of his garden range ; 
and, when he gathered beans and peas into the 
basket on his arm, the pods must not be torn 
from the vines, but cut from them with the 
scissors. All this, however, was merely the by- 
play of an earnest life. His mighty work as 
scholar and theologian was all the while going 
forward as though this lawn, these birds, and 
this garden, were seldom or never in his thought. 
You can from this the better understand why 
he should say to you, as once he did : " My dear 
boys and girls, I cannot tell you how glad I am 
to be again amid all this Spring time wonder of 
leafage and bud and blossom; nor can I tell 
you what pleasant thoughts and cherished 
memories are always associated in my mind 
with some of the simplest and commonest flow- 
ers of the meadow and the field." 

His was that close and real kinship with na- 
ture which the heart recognizes more than the 
head. It was a perennial soring of gladness to 
himself and those about him. The daisy and 
the buttercups starring the meadow with their 
dewy blossoms ; the columbine nodding among 
the rocks; the liverwort, the violet, the spring 
beauty, unfolding to the sun amid the green 
grass — how he loved them all! He would 
laugh over them with boyish glee, and talk — he 
couldn't help it ! — to them and of them as though 
they were old friends come back after long ab- 
sence or delay. One bright morning a year ago 
— how well we recall it ! — he took us quite out 
of our way to the garden of a gentleman in an- 
other part of the city to see whether his ferns 
were yet unrolling their crozier-like fronds; at 
another time last Spring we must see with him, 
for our enjoyment and his own. the star-eyed 
chick weed open its little blossoms to the sun, 
iust inside the railing by St. James' church, 
which he had been observing for days as he 



passed it near his home, and of which he had 
been talking with much interest and pleasure. 
Now a tree must be noted and described, now 
a shrub, as he watched the swelling bud and 
the growth of the tender leaf. How often would 
he return from traveling over the State, saying 
nothing of any speeches that he had made or 
of any work that he had been doing, but elo- 
quent of Nature, of mountain slope and river 
scenery, of green meadows, of wheat fields and 
corn fields, and especially of the beauty of the 
late Spring landscape when the Judas-trees were 
" purpling all the hillsides with their bloom !" 

Is all this over now, and ended quite? and 
nothing left but rosemary and rue, which " keep 
seeming and savor all the winter long ?" Rue 
— for sorrow, is it? And rosemary? "That's 
for remembrance." 



AMONG THE CLASSIC POETS. 

Dr. Higbee was a man of a very versatile 
genius, susceptible of being moved patheti- 
cally by all the varying modes of life, 
whether cheerful or sorrowful, lightsome or 
profound, entering into the gambols of child- 
ren and participating in their whims and 
oddities with as keen a relish as he had while 
pursuing and following out with success the 
most erudite speculations of the profoundest 
philosophers. Every pursuit undertaken by 
him was entered upon with a will and deter- 
mination of purpose not to be baffled or di- 
verted from, until he had mastered thor- 
oughly all its requirements, and was ready to 
enter afresh upon some newer field of enter- 
prise. 

In his literary pursuits he was as highly 
delighted in poring over, at times, the sim- 
ple Idylls of Theocritus as he was, at other 
times, in partaking in ecstacy of the subli- 
mated strains of Pindar. This disposition 
of his of passing readily 

From grave to gay, from lively to severe, 
a fair opportunity was afforded me for ob- 
serving while we were warm friends to- 
gether, though employed in different occupa- 
tions, long ago at Mercersburg, and latterly, 
at intervals "few and far between," when 
he was residing occasionally in Lancaster; 
and especially in the letters which he wrote 
meat times from different places of his abode, 
was this versatile genius to be observed, one 
of them while being written in Latin Sap- 
phics as correct in scansion as are those of 
Horace, another containing a metrical ren- 
dering into English of his own of some one 
or other of the Idylls of Bion or Theocritus, 
and again, in another, some lyric effusion of 
his in " braid Scotch " after the manner of 
Burns. 

Though fulfilling the duties of the Super- 
intendency of Public Schools with signal 



56 



DR. E. E. HIGBEE: IN LOVING REMEMBRANCE. 



ability and success, elevating the standard 
of these, as we apprehend in many respects, 
and especially in the improving of their re- 
ligious tone ; yet latterly was he more de- 
sirous, as he expressed himself, at the close of 
his work as State Superintendent, of assum- 
ing again more fully his clerical profession, 
bestowing his time thereafter mostly in writ- 
ing on religious subjects for the press, having 
at the same time in charge the superinten- 
dency of some quiet, orderly congregation. 

This small tribute of affection and regard, 
I am happy to add for one whom I always 
held so dear as a friend, and of whom by 
me is the memory still so sacredly held and 
treasured. — Prof. Wm. M. Nevin, Franklin 
and Marshall College, Lancaster, Pa. 



AN ENTHUSIASTIC EDUCATOR. 

I never knew Dr. Higbee until he was ap- 
pointed to the State Superintendency, and 
have seen him not often in the meantime; 
the first ten minutes of conversation re- 
vealed his wit, refinement, and scholarship. 

He came to the office from a college. 
He was a college bred man, and all his 
tastes and sympathies were with colleges. 
He was not a common school man. and it 
required some time to adjust himself to his 
new environment. While he brought to 
his position all the breadth of culture and 
high notions of what an education ought to 
be, which belong to a thoroughly educated 
man, he believed in the Common School 
System — in the system more than in the 
schools as he found them. He determined 
to improve the character of the schools of 
the State. Like most new incumbents, 
he thought improvement could be made 
easily and speedily. He knew that both 
school and college would be better if they 
could be brought closer together ; so close 
that each would influence the other. I 
shared both his opinion and his enthusiasm ; 
and, later on, his failure. In a convention 
of County Superintendents, to which he 
invited me with other representatives of 
Western Pennsylvania colleges, he dis- 
covered that his idea was impracticable, 
turned away from the colleges, and there- 
after let them severely alone, devoting his 
time and energies to what he knew was 
practicable — the elevation of the Common 
Schools, with the Normal Schools, which 
are a part of the system. Had he been will- 
ing to wait, and had he possessed tact and 
skill in managing men equal to his scholar- 
ship — or cared to rely much upon these 
qualities to secure the end he had in view — 
his idea would, I believe, have been practi- 



cable then ; and before this time we should 
have seen the different educational institu- 
tions of the State working together harmon- 
iously, and with mutual helpfulness, in a 
complete system. 

If other men have been more distin- 
guished for executive ability than was Dr. 
Higbee, no man ever did more to create an 
enthusiasm for education in the broadest 
and truest sense of the word. Wherever he 
spoke, in county institute or State conven- 
tion, we all felt like offering our services 
under his leadership in the great cause of 
learning ; every teacher resolved that he 
would develop his own powers up to their 
highest capacity, and lay in the minds of 
his pupils the foundation of the broadest 
scholarship. 

Dr. Higbee was a man, and therefore im- 
perfect; but he was an enthusiastic educator, 
and therefore left his impress on the intellect 
of the State — a "monument more lasting 
than brass," and more creditable to him 
than even the memorial which his fellow- 
teachers will erect to his memory. — Rev. 
Dr. E. T. Jejfers, Professor of Theology, 
Lincoln University, Pa. 



HIS FIRST SCHOOL IN VERMONT. 

We are fortunate in being able to present 
the following reminiscences of Dr. Higbee 
from the pen of Rev. R. H. Howard, A. 
M., of Franklin, Mass., who, it may be, is 
one of the few pupils left of those who at- 
tended his winter school in Burlington, 
nearly forty-five years ago. Mr. Howard is 
probably the only man living who could 
give us an appreciative sketch of this country 
school and its youthful school -master from 
the standpoint of the pupil, which he recalls 
with so much gratification. He says: 

The first time the writer ever saw the late 
Elnathan E. Higbee was towards the close 
of a Saturday afternoon, late in the autumn 
of 1846 or '47. It was in one of the outly- 
ing school districts of Burlington, Vt., a 
neighborhood known as " Fourth Street." 
He was standing on the roadside at the time, 
not far from the humble country school- 
house in which he had that very week begun 
to teach a district school for the ensuing 
winter term. He was then a student at the 
University of Vermont ; and who knows but 
that it was then and there that Mr. Higbee 
began that long and remarkably brilliant 
educational career which has so recently and 
so suddenly terminated? 

When I first met, and, by a schoolmate, 
was introduced to Mr. Higbee, his appear- 
ance was as interesting as it was striking. 



FOREMOST IX ALL ATHLETIC SPORTS. 



He was rather under size as to form. He 
stood erect. His countenance seemed 
youthful — he was but 1 6 years old — but it was 
singularly vivacious; and, as he stood there 
by the roadside on that autumn Saturday 
afternoon, gun in hand, with his pantaloons 
tucked into his boots, and dressed in a hun- 
ter's suit — he was evidently returning from a 
gunning expedition — he quite realized one's 
most romantic dream of an intrepid young 
huntsman. How well I remember every 
feature of this scene — the whole picture then 
ahd there presented having been indelibly 
impressed upon my boyhood's memory. 
Meantime, how little the then verdant 
school boy dreamed that, after the lapse of 
more than forty years, he was to pen his re- 
collections of this same brilliant young 
school-master, who, after an exceptionally 
successful career in that educational sphere 
into which he was just then so hopefully and 
auspiciously entering, was at the last to be so 
abruptly summoned to lay down his charge, 
and cease at once to work and to live ! 

On the ensuing Monday I became a mem- 
ber of Mr. Higbee's school; and, if I had 
been favorably impressed by his striking per- 
sonal appearance, and by his vivacious talk, 
at my first interview with him, I at once be- 
came still more deeply interested in him be- 
cause of his brilliant qualities as a school- 
master. His energy and tact in the man- 
agement of his school were marked. As a 
disciplinarian he was always and completely 
the master of the situation. I can remem- 
ber his ta'king with deepest earnestness and 
seriousness to certain of his larger boys, who 
were sometimes tempted to disorder during 
school hours — never in a threatening manner, 
but always in a way to shame and subdue 
them. I never knew him, even in these 
early days, and though dealing with very 
many very rude natures, young and inex- 
perienced as he was, to resort to any other 
disciplinary measures than those of moral 
suasion. I doubt if he struck a blow during 
his whole term. Nor was this dependence 
upon moral means or measures, on his part, 
indicative of any lack of firmness or decis- 
ion. He was a martinet in reference to the 
matter of order in the schoolroom. He 
was always kind and respectful in dealing 
with his pupils ; but the instant he had 
crossed the threshold of his school-room, 
nothing was more evident to all concerned 
than that he was Master. 

His rare gifts and efficiency as a teacher, 
also, were thus early clearly manifest. Per- 
haps he did not at that time always insist 
upon independent, original work on the 



part of the pupil, as much as we do in these 
latter days ; there may then have been a little 
more of rote-work than of reasoning; but I 
still remember my amazement at the light- 
ning-like rapidity and dexterity with which 
he would shower both sides of a boy's slate 
with algebraic symbols and processes. No 
wonder he subsequently became a mathe- 
matician and mathematical instructor of 
extraordinary proficiency. 

But what was quite remarkable about Mr. 
Higbee, in those days, was that he was no 
less brilliant in his performances on the 
play ground than in the school-room. He 
was a natural-born athlete, easily outstrip- 
ping, in all manly sports, the most active 
and stalwart of his boys. Indeed, there is 
nothing which I remember about him more 
vividly or distinctly than the fact that he 
was facile princeps among his boys in con- 
nection with their various school games — 
could always be relied upon to run faster, 
jump higher, knock a ball, or kick a foot- 
ball farther than any of the rest of us. As 
a skater he was fleet as the wind, and as 
alert, nimble, and agile as seems possible to 
any master of the art. How well do I re- 
member his prodigies of dexterity on the 
glare ice of Shelburne Pond on Thanksgiv- 
ing Day ! How well also do I remember 
his once taking after me that day? Did I 
elude, or escape him ? As well might one 
attempt successfully to elude the lightning. 
O what a glorious boy, truly, was he among 
his boys! It is quite likely that those who 
knew him intimately only during his later 
years, can hardly realize with what keen 
zest he shared, and what decided, invincible 
relish he had, in those early days, for these 
athletics, indeed for all the physical activities 
and exercises of juvenile and youthful life. 
Under the circumstances it can quite easily 
be seen how that while, on the one hand, 
he was idolized in the school -room, on the 
other, he was in all respects our ideal hero 
outside of it. 

The writer is unable to say whether, of 
all the rustic boys and girls that attended 
Elnathan Higbee's school that winter, he 
alone survives. But of this he is confident, 
that if there be others of them still living, 
when they shall hear of the death of this 
their beloved school master of the years 
long gone by — though his surviving family 
or friends may never hear from them to that 
effect — they will yet, notwithstanding this 
lapse of more than forty years, sincerely 
mourn his loss. Meanwhile, eminently 
brilliant and useful as has been Mr. Higbee's 
subsequent career on educational lines, let 



58 



DR. E. E. BIG BEE: IN LOVING REMEMBRANCE. 



me here add that in these, his earliest ex- 
periments in the art of pedagogy, he, in my 
judgment, gave most ample proof and 
promise of it all. 

The last time I saw Mr. H. was in the 
college chapel of the University of Vermont. 
Years had passed away since the district 
school experiences described above. He 
had become a clergyman ; and he had now 
been invited by the Faculty of the University 
to deliver the "Master's Oration," on the 
ensuing commencement day. I remember 
distinctly just how he appeared as, on the 
occasion of chapel prayers, he sat with the 
Faculty on the old chapel platform. He 
was dressed with scrupulous neatness and 
taste. His handsome countenance had be- 
come "sicklied o'er," to some extent, with 
the "pale cast" which high thought and 
true sanctity so often confer. Yet still there 
played about those clear-cut features his char- 
acteristic smile, the light and sweetness of 
which no portrait will ever be able to catch 
or reproduce. As I sat there on that occa- 
sion and looked at him with not a little of 
my early boyhood's interest and devotion — 
he little suspecting that before him among 
those college students sat one of his former 
Fourth Street boys — I said, "Can it be 
that this quiet man, so intellectual and 
saintly-looking, is actually the same that in 
other days with so much brusque energy, 
dashing not to say dare-devil earnestness, 
had awakened such unbounded admiration 
and romantic enthusiasm on the part of the 
boys and girls of the Fourth Street district 
school?" Yet there he was — confessedly 
one of the most brilliant and most promising 
young men that had ever gone forth from 
that institution. 

The Higbee family was a large and un- 
usually interesting one ; there were several 
sons, and two or three daughters; all of them 
talented, enterprising, and, as I thought, sin- 
gularly handsome young men and women. I 
have often seen the two homesteads of this 
notable family. One of them, in which I 
think all the children were born, was in St. 
George, about seven or eight miles from 
Burlington. It was quite an imposing farm- 
house in its day, very eligibly situated on a 
gentle rise some distance from the highway, 
and handsomely set off by its broad natural 
lawns. The second, or Williston home, 
a short distance east from Burlington, was 
not so attractive or so spacious as the former. 
Mr. Higbee the elder, the father of this great 
family, was a very unique character. He was, 
indeed, eccentricity itself. But yet he was a 
strong, true man, Tvrose memory will long be 



as ointment poured forth in Burlington. His 
chief claim to perennial consideration, how- 
ever, I ween, lies in the fact that he was the 
father of the gifted, genial, glorious Elna- 
than E. Higbee. 



MAN, EDUCATOR, PASTOR, PREACHER. 

The following tribute to " Dr. Higbee, 
the Man, the Educator, and the Preacher," 
is from the pen of the Rev. S. L. Whitmore, 
Adamstown, Maryland, who was for eight 
years a student at Mercersburg, and has 
therefore the very best means of knowing 
the man and his work. 

I would gladly yield to others more compe- 
tent to speak or write upon the life and labors 
of our friend, teacher and pastor, Dr. Higbee. 
I watch with eager interest for all that is said or 
written of him. And yet it would seem selfish 
and ungratefnl in me, if I should fail to speak 
of the impressions and influences of this re- 
markable man upon my own life. Few of us 
have many such men among our acquaintance. 
We have not many such friends, or teachers, or 
benefactors to lose. I may be permitted to 
speak freely of Dr. Higbee, because, under 
God, he has been more to me than any other 
man. " For though we have ten thousand in- 
structors, yet have we not many fathers." For 
eight years I was privileged to sit at his feet as 
a student. In that time opportunity was given 
to know him most intimately — as a man, as a 
teacher, as a pastor and preacher. 

In each of these relations he was exceptional. 
I will not attempt a eulogy here. No man 
could be more averse to mere sounding words 
of praise than Dr. Higbee. His whole intense, 
consecrated life was a protest against the hol- 
lowness of empty words or merely embellished 
phrases. He was pre-eminently a man of ac- 
tion. He was not a man "to darken counsel 
by words without knowledge." He was a most 
earnest, painstaking student. Truth was for 
him of first importance. The truth was with 
him at the same time, motive and end. It was 
his inspiration, and no amount of toil could 
turn him aside, or cause him to halt in his 
search. The True, the Beautiful and the Good 
were apparently never absent from his mind 
and heart. They stirred the very depths of his 
soul. He saw them in everything, everywhere. 
And he saw them, because he looked for these 
superior things. Where others contemplating 
these same things are charmed, or entertained, 
or enraptured, Dr. Higbee was thrilled, filled 
with enthusiasm, nerved for action, and ready 
to infuse them as a benediction into the life of 
others. 

He possessed poetic talent of a high order, 
with the gift of a brilliant fancy. He readily 
discerned the poet born from the poet made, 
and clearly distinguished the work of the former 
from that of the latter. This poetic nature was 
asserting itself continually in conversation, in 
the pulpit, and on the platform. His word- 
painting was at times most graphic ; his sen- 



EXTRAORDINARY GIFTS AS A TEACHER. 



59 



tences were often realistic pictures. He has en- 
riched the hymnology of the Church, and, had 
leisure been granted him, might easily have en- 
riched our general poetic literature as well. But 
his genius was not only poetic. He was above 
everything else a teacher and preacher. This 
office of teacher of men, and teacher of teachers, 
absorbed his time and his talents. 

As a man, Dr. Higbee was always approach- 
able, kind and most generous. His friendships 
were frank, earnest and sincere. His brilliant 
flashes of wit, quick perceptions, rich humor, 
readiness in repartee, and the point and grace 
of his anecdotes, made him at once the life of a 
company of friends. No one favored with in- 
timate acquaintance with Dr. Higbee can ever 
forget him. One felt instinctively that he was 
in the presence of a great soul — who was at the 
same time a warm-hearted, genial spirit. 

There was indeed a majesty about his learn- 
ing that compelled reverence. One could not 
help but acknowledge the thoroughness and 
precision of his scholarship. His familiar ac- 
quaintance with the thought of the past and 
present would manifest itself upon occasion. 
His learning was not only very thorough and 
profound, but it was also exceedingly versatile. 
He seemed equally at home in any and every 
field. So that in his company one's horizon 
must be broadened by his ability to point out 
the truth, beauty or virtue in the particular field 
of thought or action under review. 

This he did in the most agreeable manner. 
There was nothing pedantic about him. He did 
nothing for show, nothing for merely subordi- 
nate ends. Sometimes he was even censured 
by his friends for not making some effort to 
attract the public notice which his splendid 
abilities merited. He was content to let his 
work speak for him. An approving conscience 
was, for him, sufficient reward. 

In his family he was kind, affectionate, indul- 
gent ; with his students he was patient, prudent, 
considerate ; and with company, whether on the 
campus or ball-ground, on the ice or along the 
trout-stream, upon the mountains, in the woods, 
on the journey, in the family of friends, or 
among his clerical brethren at Classis or Synod, 
one felt his genial disposition, caught the ani- 
mation sparkling in his eye, and the thrill of his 
inspiring enthusiasm. Nothing was done, even 
in diversion, or recreation in a half-hearted way. 
He entered into the spirit of recreation with a 
zest and abandon that exactly corresponded to 
his unflagging devotion to his study or his work. 

Dr. Higbee was not a trimmer. He did noth- 
ing by halves. He despised shams, subter- 
fuges, and pretense. He was even careless at 
times of what men should think or say of him. 
Sometimes he seemed to act and speak in op- 
position to commonly-accepted or popular opin- 
ions merely to expose their superficial character. 
To less informed minds, to small souls, and to 
persons of shallow perception, his paradoxes 
were without interpretation ; and to the narrow, 
the prejudiced, and ignorant, he was a standing 
enigma. Emptiness and hollowness are nega- 
tives that are not always receptive ; and they 
are not always capable of understanding or ap- 



preciating a positive, aggressive personality. 
Hence his enemies where he had enemies, and 
his opposition where he had opposition. 

As an educator, Dr. Higbee took rank among 
the first men of our day and of our country. 
He had extraordinary gifts as a teacher; and 
to interpret him correctly is no easy task. No - 
educator of his day possessed more of the 
requisite qualifications of the ideal teacher. A 
trained mind splendidly equipped, he was at 
home in the various departments of history, 
philosophy, science, art, and literature. To this 
was added the very best of all qualifications of 
the teacher, a profound yet simple faith in God. 

He had a method of grasping the central 
truth, perceiving the underlying principle, and 
seizing the " high vantage ground " with the 
percision of a master. He was born to be a 
teacher. Nothing was taught in a merely per- 
functory way by Dr. Higbee. The dullest, 
prosiest subject became instinct with life. Truth, 
under the symbol of light, illumined everything; 
and he could arrest the attention, and fasten a 
truth upon the mind of a student as few teach- 
ers know how to do it. All his students remem- 
ber his animation, his magnetism, in the class- 
room. His soul was in his work. He built, 
not carelessly, but wisely and well, as a master- 
builder ; he built for the future. 

I can speak more freely of him as a teacher 
in the college or theological class-room. So 
vividly do I recall his manner that even now, 
after a lapse of more than ten years, I seem to 
hear the ringing words, and terse, epigram- 
matic sentences, in which he sought to impress 
the truth. And whenever I return to the halls 
of Mercersburg College, where much of his 
best work was done, it seems to me that I still 
hear him speak, see his flashing eye, and stop 
involuntarily to listen and wait 

For the touch of a vanished hand, 
And the sound of a voice that is still. 

As a teacher of teachers I need not speak of 
him at length ; others will do that. I must be 
permitted, however, to express my admiration 
and reverence for his great work in the De- 
partment of Public Instruction. It was in this 
enlarged sphere of usefulness that his remark- 
able powers were put to the severest test. This 
learned and good man has dignified and en- 
nobled the vocation of the teacher everywhere ; 
and the lustre of his name and talents must 
long remain after him, a blessing to the State 
and the nation. 

Examine his annual reports, and they will be 
found models. I happen to have before me his 
report for 1884. It is the work of a master. 
Every subject treated is handled in a masterly 
way. Every sentence of its first nineteen pages 
is Higbeean. And although an old report it is 
none the less -readable or valuable because it 
was written in 1884. 

But if the character of Dr. Higbee's versatile 
genius is difficult to interpret as a man and as 
a teacher, how much more difficult is it to de- 
scribe him as a preacher ! I may be permitted 
nevertheless to bear my own testimony con- 
cerning him, in my own way. I do it cheer- 






Co 



DR. E. E. HIGBEE: IN LOVING REMEMBRANCE. 



fully, reverently. For eight years he was my 
pastor in our College chapel congregation at 
Mercersburg. 

He brought with him into the pulpit all the 
traits of character I have mentioned above. 
Dr. Higbee, the man, the student, the lover of 
nature, was the same Dr. Higbee in the pulpit. 
His manner, his gestures, his voice, his anima- 
tion, amounting almost always to enthusiasm ; 
his zeal, his faith, his ardent love, — nothing was 
lost in the pulpit. It was Dr. Higbee still. In 
the pulpit he seemed to imitate nobody, regard 
nobody, rival nobody, but simply brought him- 
self, with all his powers, into the Master's 
service. 

If as a man and a friend he made a charm- 
ing companion; and as a teacher in the class- 
room was able to brush aside the cobwebs, clear 
the mental vision, break the fetters of ignorance 
and set the intellect free; how shall I describe 
him when under the inspiration of Divine truth ! 
It seems to me that the Spirit of God finds few 
men more ready or willing than he to become 
the simple organ of communication of the divine 
light and life. 

I might be misunderstood if I were to say 
Dr. Higbee disliked flowers. He loved flowers. 
But he never came into the pulpit to make bou- 
quets. He loved the stars of heaven. He often 
looked up to them and learned from the God 
who made them. But he never allowed himself, 
when in the pulpit, to wander off among the 
stars, while a congregation waited before him 
on earth for a message from "Him who is in- 
visible." 

His pulpit oratory was unique. As I have 
already intimated, it was not ornate. Not that 
it was without adornment, but it was not for 
ornament. It was pointed, practical, direct; 
and yet the whole realm of fancy, philosophy, 
science and literature was laid under tribute and 
made to do his bidding. He always managed 
to make himself understood. He did not be- 
lieve in preaching over the heads of his con- 
gregation, nor yet simply and only to their 
heads. "Young men," he said to our class in 
theology one day, " it is a mistake to talk about 
preachers over-shooting the heads of their con- 
gregations. The fact is too many preachers 
over-shoot their own heads. They do not them- 
selves really know what they are talking about: 
and how then shall they be able to communicate 
truth to others? " 

In exegesis he was admirable. His familiar 
acquaintance with the Word of God was the 
chief source of strength in all his sermons. No 
mere rhetoric, no philosophy, no words of man 
could take its place. Then he had a habit of 
massing the truths of the Bible, until they 
seemed to come with the irresistible force of the 
avalanche. He rarely thought it necessary to 
mince the truth into crumbs as for sparrows to 
feed upon, and did not often undertake to pre- 
pare it as if it were intended only for babes ; 
but would at times hurl it forth in " blocks," as 
it were, for his students to exercise their powers 
of investigation, analysis, mastery. Sometimes 
he handled the truth as if it were the very light- 
ning of heaven, and it would strike us just 



when and where we least expected. And yet 
few preachers know so well as he knew how to 
present the attractive, the winning, the com- 
forting side of religion, and the deep love of the 
Gospel of peace. 

He was a great preacher, though not neces- 
sarily a popular preacher. He always seemed 
to care so little for what is commonly called 
popularity that he made little or no effort to be 
popular in that sense. I never thought his ser- 
mons suited to " itching ears." He spoke to in- 
struct, to edify, to comfort, to warn, to admon- 
ish, reprove, rebuke in righteousness, and to 
bring men to Christ. He did not ask men to 
stop and admire or worship Dr. Higbee. 
" Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of 
God," was, in some way, the basis of all his 
sermons. Christ, as the orb through which all 
the divine rays are focused upon the world, 
formed one eternal theme ; ever old, yet for- 
ever new, fresh, radiant, glorious. " For in Him 
dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily," 
" And ye are complete in Him, who is the head 
of all principality and power." These, and 
kindred passages, were his great proof-texts. 

Ah, I shall never forget that College chapel ! 
Dear old chapel ! Its services, its sermons ! It 
is a sacred place to me ! Dear Dr. Higbee ! 
How I still hoped to see him once more in the 
flesh, and tell him again, as I have done be- 
fore, how much I owe to him. But alas ! not 
till we meet again in a better country. How 
wonderful it is, that one man can so impress 
others, as to become interwoven into the very 
fibre of their intellectual, moral, and spiritual 
being. 

Somehow, since Dr. Higbee's death, he seems 
much nearer to me than he did even while yet 
in the flesh. I now recall scenes, incidents, 
words or truths he uttered with a vividness I 
did not before. It was as a preacher he made 
the deepest impression upon me ; and as a min- 
ister and steward of the mysteries of God he 
will live longest in my memory and affections. 
He was a positive character. His teaching was 
positive, his theology was positive, all from the 
positive life of Christ. 

Dr. Higbee did vastly more preaching than 
is commonly supposed. When not otherwise 
engaged or resting from arduous labors, he was 
almost certain to preach somewhere on the 
Lord's day. And a most singular fact in this 
connection is that his sermons were given gra- 
tutiously — that is, without compensation. Of the 
thousands of sermons he preached during his 
busy, active life, I feel safe in saying the great 
majority were without the least financial com- 
pensation. In College and Seminary, of course, 
he received no compensation for his preaching; 
and then at Classis and Synod he was expected 
to be present, bearing his own expenses, and 
was expected to preach, regardless of the cares 
and burdens already laid upon him. Was a 
minister sick, unable to preach, Dr. Higbee was 
called to supply his pulpit. Had a minister 
fallen in the ranks, Dr. Higbee must go to his 
funeral, to cheer and comfort those left in his 
desolate home. 

No, we may as well confess it, we of the Re- 



GLADNESS AT THE CHRISTMASTIDE. 



formed Church have not many Dr. Higbees to 
lose. No church has many such men to lose. 
How hard to give him up ! So brave, so true, 
so courageous, so loyal a life is ended here ! 
But it is safe with Christ, "which," after all, "is 
far better." As I stood by that casket and 
looked upon the calm, placid features of my 
dear old teacher, death seemed far less terrible. 
Is that Dr. Higbee ? And is he dead ? Can this 
be he who so often and so eloquently told us of 
the "victory over death?" Yes — and no. It 
is Dr. Higbee — and he is dead — but he lives ! 
He lives because Christ lives. He lives where 
earth's troubles never come. Faithful unto 
death, he has gone to receive his crown. God 
bless his sorrowing family ! Peace to his pre- 
cious dust ! 



DR. HIGBEE, A LOVER OF CHRISTMAS. 

The Christmas entertainment at the 
Lancaster High School, with its varied pro- 
gramme of music, by a good school orchestra 
of twenty or more instruments, and by a 
chorus of two hundred and fifty voices, is 
always an enjoyable occasion. December 
24th, 1889, a strain of sadness intermingled 
with its joy, when Mr. J. P. McCaskey, after 
reading the story of the Nativity from the 
New Testament, spoke as follows to the 
boys and girls who had grown familiar with 
the presence of Dr. Higbee from his re- 
peated visits to the school : 

I want to talk with you a little while to-day 
of a man whose presence was familiar to you 
all ; a man who loved the Christmastide ; the 
pervading atmosphere of whose life was the 
Christmas spirit that finds its highest enjoyment 
in helping others, and especially those who 
need help ; a man who was himself beyond 
question, as I think, more widely beloved 
throughout the length and breadth of this 
broad Commonwealth than any other man in 
Pennsylvania — nor is there any other in whose 
death would be experienced such wide-spread 
feeling of personal loss. This results — the man 
being capable of arousing such feeling of confi- 
dence and personal affection— from the peculiar 
relation which he bore to the tens of thousands 
of teachers, superintendents, directors, and 
friends of education throughout the State. 

He met all the leaders of our educational 
work in all their varied fields of labor, and 
everywhere he impressed them as a man of un- 
usual type and of extraordinary attainments ; 
he came into contact, upon the Institute plat- 
form and otherwise, with all the teachers of 
their respective counties and of all the cities of 
the Commonwealth, with the single exception 
of Philadelphia ; looked into their eyes, ad- 
dressed their intelligence, impressed their 
hearts, revealing a deeper purpose in their work 
and constantly challenging their attention to 
the transcendent importance, from its spiritual 
side, of the relation between teacher and pupil ; 
he spoke to directors everywhere, to citizens 
everywhere ; he led in prayer anywhere, every- 



where, in public, in the social circle, and in 
private — for Divine aid and guidance ; he 
preached with ringing utterance from many a 
pulpit, and from many a platform that was not 
a pulpit, the unfailing gospel of righteousness ; 
with the pen of the editor, and in his official 
papers, he addressed the school men of the 
State constantly and with all the power of a 
master purpose ; until men and women who 
came under the spell of his intense personality 
everywhere recognized in him an educator of 
the first rank, a man of the purest and best 
type ; helpful to the uttermost, generous to a 
fault. And knowing him thus, they came to 
trust him, to love him because of that self-same 
Christmas spirit which was the animating, in- 
forming spirit both of his official and private 
life. 

My dear old friend, Dr. Higbee ! One week 
ago to-day I stood beside his open grave in 
Mountain View Cemetery, at Emmitsburg, 
Maryland, an attractive spot to which in his 
frequent visits to this little town among the hills 
— where live some of the friends he loved best 
on earth — he would often resort for the varied 
beauty of the landscape and that invigoration 
of soul which comes from the " strength of the 
hills." We saw the walls of his tomb rising 
somewhat above the coffin lid, covered with 
broad slabs of native limestone rock to form the 
roof of that low chamber in which his mortal 
remains may rest apart from other earth for a 
thousand years, and turned away to see that 
loved face no more on earth in any light save 
that of memory. 

With others, and alone, I had stood beside 
his coffin again and again, as he lay in quiet 
sleep from which it seemed a touch might wake 
him, — and tears were stayed, for the peaceful 
calm of the sleeper had diffused itself to those 
about him in death, as it had often done in life. 
I saw in this delightful home of his young man- 
hood — whither he always went back with glad 
heart to a warm welcome — and in the commu- 
nity around, the abiding reverence which love 
inspires; I knew again the enduring value of a 
noble Christian life ; and came away from Em- 
mitsburg with a feeling that I had been per- 
mitted to read another chapter of fascinating in- 
terest in the life of the most remarkable man it 
has ever been my privilege to know, whether in 
the relation of ordinary acquaintance or on terms 
of close personal intimacy. " In this room," 
said one — it was a spacious parlor with all the 
appointments of comfort, taste, and elegance — 
" we had our Christmas tree for a dozen succes- 
sive years, and Dr. Higbee was always the life of 
our party." It seemed as if his genial presence 
still pervaded the place — perhaps it did, who 
can tell ? — though his mortal form lay in the si- 
lent majesty of Death in a room upon the same 
floor, just beyond the broad hall-way of the 
house. 

Christmas day is a birth-day — and why do I 
speak of death at Christmas time? Well, I think 
of death very pleasantly, and take pleasure too 
in knowing and thinking of people like Dr. 
Higbee, who regard it as only another birth- 
day — into the life immortal. And Dr. Higbee 



62 



DR. E. E. HIGBEE : IN LO VI NG REMEMBRANCE. 



we all knew so well ! You have heard him 
speak from this spot ; you have seen him and 
enjoyed him here, and that enjoyment has been 
mutual, for he has been glad to be here. Be- 
sides other reasons, he had an especial interest 
in this school where he had once taught. He 
came and went as if at home here. He left the 
school in 1854, after one year's service as 
teacher ; and I remember well the morning in 
1 88 1, twenty-seven years later, when, after ap- 
pointment to his late office, Mr. Hensel brought 
him in to introduce him to one of his old pupils. 
We had both changed so much in the interval, 
that otherwise we would hardly have recognized 
each other. The last time he was here was on 
a friendly errand — it seems but a few brief days 
since then — to give me a book that he had 
brought from Emmitsburg, containing some 
music of which we had spoken and which he 
knew I wished to see. 

He has not been at any of our Christmas en- 
tertainments, but he has told me how he has 
wished to be with us, for your singing and our 
instrumental music always gave him much 
pleasure. But your Arbor Day entertainments 
he especially enjoyed. On this spot he inau- 
gurated the first general Arbor Day observance 
in Pennsylvania with a formal paper entitled 
" Arbor Day with the Children." He lived to 
see this day observed ten times, and to know of 
hundreds of thousands of trees planted, because 
of its appointment, — which is not the least of his 
many good works. 

But the kindly presence that we knew so well 
we will see no more; the voice is hushed that 
spoke so cheerily its " Christmas all year long," 
emphasizing it all the more at the happy Christ- 
mastide. Let us, like him, follow the Star with 
the Wise Men, through darksome night and 
desert way, until it stand over the manger of 
Bethlehem, and, entering with them, in rever- 
ent adoration lay our best treasure as gifts at 
the feet of the Child. With the shepherds on 
the Judean hillside, we, like him, may hear the 
angel voice proclaim its message to the listen- 
ing earth, may hear sweet angel voices resound 
the matchless song of " peace on earth, good- 
will to men;" with him may hear the music 
of their harps celestial, and see the wondrous 
light that else hath never been on earthly sea or 
shore. 

Christmas was a holiday and a holy day to 
him. We remember how some years since, he 
discouraged the holding of the County Insti- 
tutes during this week, many of them having 
been appointed for this time. At his wish other 
dates were thereafter appointed, so that Christ- 
mas week might again be given back to Church 
and Home as their chief festival occasion. 

But I have talked too long. Let me emphasize 
this thought, once more illustrated in the emi- 
nently successful life of Dr. Higbee : The only 
life worth living is a life of goodness, with 
every energy of mind and heart trained and di- 
rected to this sole end of human existence : and 
the only perfect ideal after which such life may 
be lived is that of Him who was born at Bethle- 
hem, the world believes, on Christmas Day so 
long ago. 



Speaking for Dr. Higbee, then, as well as for 
myself — for I am glad to believe that we are 
still in quick sympathy in all things glad and 
good — I wish you, with all my heart, a Merry 
Christmas and a Happy New Year ! 



A WOMAN S EARNEST TRIBUTE. 

Among tributes to the memory of Dr. 
Higbee from many sources — from pupils and 
fellow-students, from brother clergymen and 
professors in the most advanced lines of 
thought and study, from Superintendents of 
educational work and friends of education 
in varied lines of effort — we are glad to 
place this heartfelt and graceful tribute 
from one of the most gifted and earnest 
women of our acquaintance, who heard him 
often and knew him well, Miss Lelia E. 
Patridge. Her work upon the Institute 
platform afforded ample opportunity to 
learn the value of Dr. Higbee's moulding 
power upon the educational thought of the 
State ; and there are few persons capable of 
estimating more accurately the ability and 
character of such a man as Dr. Higbee, and 
his influence as State Superintendent of 
Public Instruction. She writes as follows : 

I remember well with what mingled feelings 
of prejudice and distrust I first met the kind 
and valued friend who has passed beyond. 

1 had been told that the newly-selected State 
Superintendent was a conservative by nature, 
by circumstances, and by education. He be- 
lieved that woman's sphere was home, her 
mission that of the goddess of the household. 
What regard could he have for one who found 
her place outside the pale of private life, who 
earned her living on the public platform like a 
man ? Himself a thorough-bred student, a 
scholar standing high even among scholarly 
men, what justice would he show to a woman's 
intellect, especially when that intellect lacked 
the college training upon which he set such 
value ? Thus I assured myself that neither as 
a woman, nor as an educator, was I likely to 
receive the support of Dr. Higbee in my posi- 
tion as laborer in the educational field of which 
he was now placed in charge. 

Ah, how greatly was I mistaken ! From his 
first most cordial greeting, when he promptly 
claimed me as a kinswoman, because we both 
were born in old Vermont, on through all the 
years filled with generous recognition of my 
motives and my work, down to the last kind 
words written in my behalf, how many times 
was put to shame my narrow judgment, made 
before I knew his liberal mind, his just and up- 
right soul ! 

As time went on I came to see that there 
were other gifts and graces granted him besides 
the scholar's elegance and polish. The thinker's 
power of argument and reason, the orator's per- 
suasive art, the poet's fancy and imagination, 
all were his. And then the wit and humor of 
the man ! Humor so kindly that it never 



BRIEF THEORY OF TRUE EDUCATION. 



63 



wounded ; wit so keen that its shafts struck 
sometimes half unnoticed by the lookers-on. A 
single instance must suffice. We were out rid- 
ing, a party of teachers together. But the day 
was hot, the road was dusty, and it was begin- 
ning to be borne in upon us that the drive con- 
sidered as a pleasure trip was not entirely a 
success. Still no one hinted at the fact till, just 
as we passed an angry hissing flock of the fowl 
reputed to have saved Rome, the Doctor, sit- 
ting on the front seat, said in his quietest fash- 
ion, with a quick backward glance at us, " More 
geese." He made the statement without even 
the glint of a smile or the twinkle of an eye, but 
lost his self-command, and laughed out with the 
rest of us a moment later, when an unthinking 
member of the party unwittingly pointed the 
joke by remarking, " I didn't know that we had 
seen any geese before these." 

He was a man so free from petty vanity, so 
pure from taint of jealousy or envy, that he 
failed to recognize these faults in others; he 
was so simple and so good, so honest and so 
true in thought and act, that he never dreamed 
of half the evil motives swaying all the world 
about him. And then the work he did ! We 
realize it now that 

" The day is out, and the labor done." 

Only a great mind could have gone on grow- 
ing and expanding as did his in his new field 
of labor. Only a rare intellect could have taken 
up and studied a fresh problem at middle age, 
as he grappled with the (to him) unfamiliar 
question of public education and conquered it 
as he did. Yet all these years, while he walked 
among us talking of the true, pleading for the 
beautiful, setting before us the good, it was 
done in such a simple though masterful fash- 
ion, that we only half appreciated the man who 
did these things. To day we recognize not 
only the respect in which the teachers of the 
Commonwealth held their official head, and 
recognize it more certainly and surely than 
ever; but we feel what we never knew before, 
how firm a hold our dead chief had upon their 
affection. Alas ! that it should be too late to 
show this to the sensitive and sympathetic soul 
that would have been so much the happier for 
the knowledge. 

But regrets are vain ; his work here is fin- 
ished ; he will come to us no more. Never 
again shall we see that spare, quick-motioned 
figure crowned with the massive down- drooped 
whitehead. Never can we watch again the lifting 
of that thoughtful, mobile face, that the keen eyes 
might sweep the audience with sudden fiery 
glance, while the clear voice rang out its clarion 
tones, moving us at will to laughter or to tears. 

Thus he stands in my memory as I saw him 
last at York. What a ringing speech he made 
to the Directors there ! How forcibly he argued 
that the most skillful teachers should be placed 
in charge of the youngest pupils ! How earn- 
estly he urged that Primary teachers should re- 
ceive the highest salaries — that they might be 
the best. How eloquent his plea, in closing, 
that it was but just to pay to women equal wages 
with the men for equal service. 



So on the last page of my book of remem- 
brance of Dr. Higbee is written this expression 
of thought and feeling, fitting close of what I 
have known of him and his work : 

Surely he was wise, for he saw that which 
was true ; he was pure, for he loved that which 
was beautiful : he was righteous, for he did 
that which was good. 

INFUSED HIS SPIRIT INTO HIS WORK. 

True Education, as Dr. Higbee definrd it : 
" To unsense the mind and to unset/ the will." 

"When a great man dies the people 
mourn." When, on the 13th of December, 
the news flashed through the State that Dr. 
Higbee had fallen, hundreds of hearts were 
touched with sorrow in every county of the 
Commonwealth. County Superintendents 
who had recently met him at their institutes 
were astounded ; institutes which had not 
yet convened but .had his name on their 
programmes, were grieved at their loss ; and 
teachers in the public schools, as they heard 
of it, told it to their pupils with bated breath 
and sorrowing hearts. No event associated 
with the history of education in our State has 
touched so many hearts with sorrow, or 
awakened so wide a feeling of sympathy 
and regret. 

Called to the Superintendency from the 
classic shades of academic life, it was feared 
by many that his previous training and 
associations unfitted him to preside over the 
interests of the great cause of popular educa- 
tion. But his administration of the duties 
of the office soon dispelled all fears. With 
a breadth of thought and grasp of general 
principles that come from a liberal educa- 
tion, he soon showed his ability not only to 
fill, but to adorn the position to which he 
had been called. Richly endowed with 
intellectual gifts and attainments, when his 
great soul came in contact with and felt 
the touch of those influences which were at 
work giving life and vigor to our common 
school system, it quickly responded to the 
touch, and began to contribute its own warm 
sympathies and lofty ideals to the move- 
ment. 

The early public recognition of his abil- 
ity and fidelity, and his constantly increas- 
ing popularity, were exceedingly gratifying 
to his friends. Each year served but to en- 
hance the popular appreciation of his fitness 
for the position, and to cement the esteem 
and confidence of the educational public. 
With a conscience true to principle and a 
heart beating with high impulses, he 
learned to appreciate and love the cause in 
which he was called to labor, with an al- 






6 4 



DR. E. E. NIG BEE: IN LOVING REMEMBRANCE. 



most sacred ardor, and he gave to it his 
best thought and his untiring energies ; and 
the public was not slow to recognize his 
purpose and his devotion. This support' of 
public sentiment was sincerely appreciated, 
and inspired him with an ambition to make 
himself even more worthy of it; and 
when the shadow of unjust and wanton 
criticism fell upon him, his sensitive nature 
was stung with a poignancy of anguish that 
few can understand or appreciate. It was 
my lot to be invited to visit the orphan 
schools of the State in the interest of truth 
and justice, and to report their actual con- 
dition for the information of the educa- 
tional public ; and the gratitude with which 
he read the only paper which *it seemed 
necessary for me to write and publish, is to 
me a precious memory now that the great 
heart to which it helped to give relief is 
stilled. 

This attack, most wanton and unjust, al- 
most crushed his proud and sensitive spirit; 
yet conscious of an unswerving rectitude of 
purpose, and with a strong trust in the tri- 
umph of the right, he went forward in the 
discharge of his duties ; and had the proud 
satisfaction of a complete and even glorious 
vindication of his rectitude and fidelity. It 
is to the lasting credit of our great Gover- 
nor that amid the excitement and prejudices 
aroused by acrimonious criticism that 
seemed to be centred on the head of the 
Superintendent, he could discriminate be- 
tween the defects of a system and the 
merits of the man; and that he had both 
the sense of justice and the courage to 
stand by the man and vindicate his honor 
by re-appointing him to the position which 
he had filled with a guileless purpose and a 
wise and efficient management. And no 
more noble tribute to Dr. Higbee's memory 
will be spoken than those words with which 
he announced his death, words worthy of 
being printed in gold: "As a public offi- 
cer he was painstaking and conscientious ; 
as a man he was pure, simple-hearted and 
genial, gentle and kind. The teachers of the 
State and his associates in the great work of 
education loved him with a filial devotion, 
and the Commonwealth trusted him as a 
pure, noble, true, and honest man." 

In reviewing the work of Dr. Higbee as 
Superintendent of Public Instruction, I am 
convinced that he will take high rank among 
those who have occupied and adorned the 
position. While lacking somewhat in that 
broad statesman -like comprehension of the 
genius of popular education that character- 
ized the author of our common school sys- 



tem, and the strong executive ability that 
marked the administration of his immediate 
predecessor in the office, of him it may be 
truly said that he came nearer to the teach- 
ers and the people of the State than any one 
who had preceded him in the position. By 
his eminent scholarship and high personal 
character he gave a dignity to the cause, 
and awakened a sympathy for it, that magni- 
fied its value to the teacher, and brought it 
closer to the heart of the public. 

From a somewhat careful observation of 
his work, two or three elements of it impress 
me as being especially worthy of notice. 
Among these I name first, his influence in 
favor of a high standard of scholarship 
among teachers. A great scholar himself, 
and with high appreciation of scholarly at- 
tainments and culture, he infused this spirit 
into his work, and became an ideal of high 
attainment to the teachers of the State. 
The value of such an influence is especially 
great at the present time ; for the tendency 
to magnify methods, and the devices of 
primary instruction, and the use of tool- 
work in our schools — all proper and neces- 
sary in their places — has a tendency to lower 
the standard of high scholarship and thor- 
ough intellectual training in the higher 
thought and culture studies of the academic 
course. Appreciating this lower work at 
its full value, he did not, as so many do, 
lose sight of the higher and more important 
work of broad mental culture and the en- 
richment of the spiritual nature. His oft- 
repeated expression that we must " unsense 
the mind and unself the will," showed his 
grasp of those high principles of education 
that have given strength and glory to mod- 
ern civilization. 

Then, he was himself an ideal of the high 
scholarship which he so highly prized. A 
profound linguist, a well-read mathemati- 
cian, a broad-minded theologian, a critical 
literary scholar, a writer of vigorous and 
classical English, a clear and vigorous 
speaker, whose utterance often rose into 
eloquence — all these rare gifts he gave to the 
cause of education ; and as he stood on the 
lecture platform he was in himself an inspi- 
ration in favor of the highest culture and 
the broadest scholarship among our educa- 
tors and teachers. Indeed, it can be truly 
said to the honor of Pennsylvania that in 
Dr. Higbee she had at the head of her 
school system the most accomplished scholar 
among the State Superintendents of the 
entire country. 

Another element of his influence as an 
educator was that all of these graces of 



MOULDING THE THOUGHT OF THE SCHOOLS. 



65 



culture and scholarship were adorned with 
the crown of Christian faith. Untouched by 
that popular materialistic philosophy which 
when it does not deny the higher attributes 
of the spiritual nature shrouds the future in 
gloom and doubt, he saw with the certainty 
of Christian faith that there was something 
divine and imperishable in the human soul; 
and thus education to him had a meaning 
far higher than it could have to the 
materialist and the agnostic. The work of 
education was not only the work of an ad- 
vancing civilization, but a restoration of 
man towards the divine image. The problem 
of education ended not in the falling shadows 
of death, but reached over into the light 
beyond, and the result was to be scanned 
by an omniscient eye and receive the divine 
approval. The high work of education was 
thus crowned with the chaplet of Faith, and 
received that inspiration which alone can 
come from a belief in the grander develop- 
ment of the life immortal. 

Thus believing he lived and wrote and 
taught, and at last fell with his armor on, 
and has gone to test the truth of the faith 
which gave inspiration to his labors. The 
great brain, the chamber of high thought, 
is quiet ; the throbbing heart, so full of lofty 
aspirations, is stilled ; the voice that so often 
touched the hearts of listening teachers and 
friends of education is hushed; the frail 
body that for years was too weak a casket 
for the gem it held is passing to dust ; — but 
his work remains, a hallowed and inspiring 
memory to thousands who loved him, and 
his influence will be felt beyond the present 
generation. We lay these chaplets of our 
appreciation and gratitude upon his grave, 
and rejoice in the thought that " He giveth 
his beloved sleep." — Dr. Edward Brooks, 
Philadelphia, Pa. 



THE DRAPERY OF MOURNING. 

No one could know Dr. Higbee well with- 
out admiring his gifted qualities of mind 
and heart. My relations with him, official 
and personal, were close and intimate. He 
was more than a friend to me, and in com- 
mon with many others I deeply lament his 
death. 

Much has been said in commendation of 
him, his congenial and kindly nature, his 
social qualities, his rare attainments, schol- 
arly accomplishments, and cultured mind. 
Tender and affectionate tributes to his 
memory are heard on every hand. 

His college students remember him as an 
instructor whose teaching was an inspira- 



tion and whose life was an example. Mem- 
bers of his church recall the earnest Christian 
admonitions of their pastor, and treasure in 
their memories his wise counsels, leading 
them to that blessed inheritance beyond the 
grave, apparently so near and real to their 
departed brother even in this world, and 
which he now enjoys as the just reward of 
his labor. 

His associates in other relations of life 
were endeared to him by ties no less affec- 
tionate, and many who did not know this 
generous-hearted man have yet to learn how 
much they are indebted to him as a public 
officer. He was truly a public benefactor 
in the highest sense. 

He thoroughly comprehended the magni- 
tude of his official trust in connection with 
the Public Schools, and had a clear discern- 
ment of the responsibilities of his office. 
He seemed to forget everything in one grand 
purpose to inspire teachers with a feeling of 
like responsibility to their profession. The 
ideal man and woman, with all the powers 
of mind, body, and soul properly trained 
and developed in home and school, was the 
great end for which he labored in his un- 
selfish devotion to the interests of educa- 
tion. His keen discernment and power of 
analysis made clear to him the solution of 
educational problems in their far-reaching 
significance, and the realization of the 
possibilities of youth inspired him with the 
courage of his convictions in the accomplish- 
ment of his purpose. 

Deep and abiding are the impressions of 
his efforts to elevate the schools of this 
Commonwealth to a high standard. Teach- 
ers through him have a new conception of 
their duties in training the young, fitting 
them to lead moral and useful lives in this 
world, and, by precept and example, pre- 
paring them for an eternal destiny beyond. 

In him the children had a most devoted 
and thoughtful friend. The last time that 
I heard him speak in public was at the 
Huntingdon County Institute, December 5, 
1889, and his earnest plea for the " little 
ones" as heirs of immortality, so beautiful 
and impressive, seemed like a farewell bene- 
diction to all who heard it, which it really 
proved to be. 

Returning to Harrisburg the next morn- 
ing, the sun shining brightly at times, he 
greatly enjoyed the scenery along the river 
and commented on the beauties of the dis- 
tant landscape. He was a lover of nature, 
and with his poetic bent of mind and vivid 
imagination could discern and describe the 
beauties of forest and field as few men can. 



66 



DR. E. E. HIGBEE: IN LOVING REMEMBRANCE. 



He was delighted with his visit, and with the 
kind reception by Supt. Brumbaugh, the 
teachers aud other friends, at Huntingdon. 
Turning homeward on Friday evening, he 
was with us in the office again on Monday — 
for the last time. His sudden illness and 
death soon after are recalled — and I forbear 
to say more. 

Doctor Higbee always impressed me as 
one who had an intelligent comprehension 
of revelation in Scripture. He had a strong 
Christian faith, and was a consecrated ser- 
vant of the Great Master whom he delighted 
to honor in his life and in his work. His 
unoccupied chair, draped before me as 1 
write ; the desk at which he sat, with its 
heavy hangings emblematic of sorrow ; the 
flag at half mast, floating in the breeze from 
the dome of the Capitol ; the building itself 
with its sombre drapery swaying in the 
wind, — all these things are reminders of our 
recent sad loss, and through them we are 
silently warned of the fate which is to be the 
common lot of all the living. — Hon. John 
Q. Stewart, Deputy Supt. of Public Instruc- 
tion, Harrisburg, Pa. 



AWAKENER OF SLUMBERING SOULS. 

The memorial services at Mercersburg, 
January 16th, 1890, were most impressive. 
At our request Rev. Dr. J. S. Keiffer, of 
Hagerstown, Maryland, has written out his 
remarks on that occasion, and we take 
pleasure in presenting his tribute to the 
memory of a good man, a ripe scholar, and 
a dear friend, as follows : 

It seems very proper to hold a service of this 
kind in memory of our departed friend, and it 
is eminently appropriate that such a service 
should be held here at Mercersburg, where so 
large a portion of his active and useful life was 
passed. When one of our dear friends is called 
away from us by death, we love to come to- 
gether and speak of him and his now finished 
career; considering his character ; commemora- 
ting his achievements ; praising his manifold 
excellences and virtues. We compare our 
impressions of him ; one friend was chiefly 
impressed by this phase of his character, 
another by that. And so we seek comfort, 
as also instruction and edification, in regard to 
the death of our beloved friend. This is what 
we are doing now; and, accordingly, being 
requested to do so, I desire to give, in the 
simplest and most informal manner, some of 
my impressions of him in whose honor we are 
holding this service, briefly stating first what 
opportunities were afforded me of knowing 
him. 

The first time I saw Dr. Higbee was in the 
month of May, 1865. I was at that time a 
student on one year's leave of absence from the 
Theological Seminary of this place (where I 



had already passed two years under Drs. 
Schaff and Wolff) and happened to be spend- 
ing part of a day at the annual meeting of the 
Maryland Classis, at Burkittsville, Maryland. 
On that occasion Dr. Higbee appeared as one 
of a committee representing Mercersburg 
Classis, which had been appointed to visit the 
Classis of Maryland and seek the co-operation 
of that body in the project of establishing the 
institution of learning which was afterwards 
established under the name of Mercersburg 
College. The other members of the committee 
were, if my memory is correct, Rev. Drs. T. G. t 
Apple and P. S. Davis. I did not then become 
personally acquainted with Dr. Higbee; but, 
re-entering the Theological Seminary in the 
Fall of 1865, I then not only formed his per- 
sonal acquaintance, but also became one of his 
pupils for the remaining year of my theological 
course. During this year, I sustained to him a 
relation perhaps somewhat more intimate than 
that which is usually sustained by theological 
students to their professors. After I had fin- 
ished my course, this relation between us was 
still maintained by an occasional letter and an 
occasional meeting, until, in 1868, I again be- 
came more directly and intimately associated 
with him as a member of the Board of Regents 
of Mercersburg College. As secretary of that 
Board for thirteen years, Dr. Higbee being a 
member of it during all that time and during 
part of the time its President, I often saw him 
and stood in very close relation to him. I may 
add that, during these years, he frequently 
preached to the congregation of which I was, 
and continue to be, the pastor ; and also that 
he was a frequent and always welcome visitor 
at my house. Within the last eight years it is 
only rarely that I have had the pleasure of 
seeing him. 

Such were my opportunities of knowing our 
friend. And now, as regards my impressions 
of his character, I wish to make mention, first, 
of certain intellectual qualities. Perhaps the 
most immediately conspicuous thing in Dr. 
Higbee, so striking as to be noticed by all, was 
his intellectual brilliancy. Intellectually, he 
was a bright and shining star. And the special 
characteristic of his intellect, as it seemed to 
me, was the extraordinary wakefulness and 
attentiveness of it ; its alertness and eagerness ; 
its sensitiveness and responsiveness ; the light- 
ning like rapidity of its action, in whatever 
direction. Intellects take rank according to 
the degree in which they are sensitive, alert, 
attentive. Some minds are good, but they are 
slow and heavy ; they are capable of attending, 
but their attention requires to be aroused and 
stimulated. Other minds there are which are 
naturally, constitutionally and constantly vigi- 
lant, attentive and eager. Great is Attention. 
Sir Isaac Newton, being once asked why he 
was so much greater than other workers in his 
particular sciences, said, "I do not know, ex- 
cept that I, perhaps, pay more attention than 
they do." Helvetius defined genius to be 
" nothing but a continued attention." Few men 
know how to attend. I remember Dr. Higbee's 
once making to me a remark somewhat akin 



LOVE IS THE ONE EVERLASTING THING. 



67 



to this, " Not one man in a thousand," said he 
"knows how to think." Intellectual wake- 
fulness and attentiveness is, we say, one of the 
principal intellectual virtues. And this peculiar 
quality was characteristic, as it seems to us, in 
a very high and extraordinary degree, of the 
intellect of Dr. Higbee. 

We feel obliged to mention the important 
fact, also, that this intellectual eagerness was 
not restricted to any one particular form or de- 
partment of truth. There was no narrowness in 
it. There are intellects whose alertness is only 
in some one direction. They are interested in 
one kind of truth, but not in others ; they hear 
acutely on this side, but deafen themselves on 
that. It was characteristic of the intellect of Dr. 
Higbee (and, as it seems to me, one of the spe- 
cial and chief characteristics) that it was open 
and eager, apparently without any difference, 
for the reception of all truth. There was some- 
thing very fine in the large and catholic way in 
which he took interest in everything pertaining 
to the great world of truth ; despising no kind of 
knowledge ; considering every species of truth 
to be high and sacred. Truth mathematical ; 
truth physical ; truth poetical ; truth philosoph- 
ical and theological ; truth moral and spiritual, 
— all appealed to him, and found him intellec- 
ually open, interested, and receptive. Such an 
intellectual nature is of rare and extraordinary 
quality. Dr. Higbee taught us the lesson (no 
small lesson to learn) of an open, eager, intent, 
hospitable mind, always inquiring and always 
learning. Such an intellect cannot grow old ; 
constant growing keeps it fresh and young. 
Over Dr. Higbee's grave might be written the 
epitaph which is borne by the tomb of the Eng- 
lish historian Greene, in Italy, — " He died 
learning." 

But there was more than this. Beautiful as 
it is, intellect is not all ; it is not even the most. 
Man shall not, and cannot, live by intellect 
alone. A man may be rich in intellect yet poor 
in manhood, as was Bacon, "the greatest, 
wisest,- meanest of mankind." Not by a man's 
intellectual qualities and acquirements, but by 
the way in which he carries them and the use 
which he makes of them, shall the manhood of 
the man be tested. The man is always some- 
thing other, and more, and larger, than his in- 
tellect. The real scholar is far from being a 
man of mere information, the possessor simply 
of a vast accumulation of intellectual posses- 
sions. These are the mere materials for the 
man to use. There must be in the man him- 
self something more than, and superior to, his 
intellectual acquirements, that shall take them 
and use them for wise and noble purposes. 

Of this peculiar power, whatever it may be, 
there was a large measure, we believe, in the 
personality of Dr. Higbee. There was in him 
much of that subtle and mysterious energy or 
force, which is one of the chief characteristics 
of the true scholar as distinguished from the 
mere man of information. One of the earliest 
heroes and martyrs of scholarship said that he 
considered it his destiny and calling as a scholar 
to be "an awakener of slumbering souls." Our 
friend was the possessor, in no small degree, of 



this high and peculiar power of awakening slum- 
bering souls. When he spoke, when he taught, 
when he preached, all who heard him were sensi- 
ble of this peculiar, vitalizing and inspiring force. 
Virtue went out of his personality ; there was 
living and vivifying contact of soul with soul. 
"Whatever he touched he adorned," was John- 
son's epitaph on Goldsmith. "Whatever he 
came in contact with he vivified," might well 
be said of Dr. Higbee. And to say this is to 
say much ; this is one of the highest vocations 
with which a man can be called, to be an 
awakener of human souls. 

Qualities like these gave a peculiar energy 
and intensity to the character and life of our 
friend. Whatever he did, he did intensely, 
energetically, passionately. He was a passion- 
ate man, and his career was a passionate career. 
We are using the word passionate now in the 
high and noble sense ; in the sense in which 
Hegel uses it when he says, that " nothing great 
is achieved without passion." The highest per- 
sonalities are apt to be passionate and in- 
tense. Goethe somewhere says that men 
seemed to him to differ one from another 
chiefly in respect of energy. And Thomas Car- 
lyle defined genius as "an immense capacity 
for taking trouble." Whatever we may think 
of these sayings, it is evident that in some form 
this peculiar energy, intensity, passionateness, 
is characteristic of all the higher souls. Dr. 
Higbee had this. He knew how to "toil terri- 
bly ; " we were the witnesses of some of his 
terrible toiling. He left no stone unturned. He 
was rapid and urgent ; he was as one who 
hastened to geT his work done and finish his 
course. Such men do not usually live long ; but 
their lives make up in intensity what they lack 
in duration. The standard of a life is not the 
number of its years. " Better fifty years of Eu- 
rope than a cycle of Cathay." One of England's 
greatest statesmen expressed the wish, when a 
boy, in a poem written at school, that he might 
"live in a blaze and in a blaze expire;" to 
whom his boyish wish was also granted in his 
after years. To our friend it was given to live and 
to die in a blaze of constant and intense activity. 

One thing more. There is something more 
than intellectual brilliancy ; more than learning, 
or wit, or eloquence, or energy, or zeal. It is 
kindness ; it is affection. This is the highest. 
Love is above all. Knowledge shall pass away, 
but love shall abide forever. To me, his ten- 
derness and gentleness of feeling was one of 
the chief distinguishing characteristics of Dr. 
Higbee. And it is this, I fancy, that has had 
most to do with bringing us here to-day. We 
are here, not because he was eloquent, but be- 
cause he was kind; not because he was 
learned, but because he was affectionate; not 
because he was energetic, but because he was 
tender and loving. This is what we think of 
most and remember longest, when our friends 
are taken from us. And justly so. For love is 
the highest and best. It is the one everlasting 
thing. It is the one all comprehending thing; 
the source of all that is good, the greatest 
motive power in the universe ; the fountain- 
head of all knowing and all doing. 



68 



DR. E. E. HIGBEE : IN LOVING REMEMBRANCE. 



I could give many instances of Dr. Higbee's 
kindness; of his gentleness of manner and 
speech ; of his tenderness to little children; of 
the way in which he would put himself out to 
render a service. I took down, yesterday, a 
package of letters (scarcely knowing till then 
that I had received so many letters from Dr. 
Higbee), letters reaching back as far as 1866, 
and what struck me most in reading them 
over, was the kindness and affectionateness of 
their tone. This is what I dwell upon, and 
what I most like to think of now, in regard to 
our departed friend. I recall the many times 
we were together, the many conversations we 
had, the many hours he spent in my room 
in yonder Seminary (how I like to think of the 
austere simplicity of that student's room, in 
those days of "plain living and high think- 
ing!") and what I find most pleasure and com- 
fort in is the remembrances of his constant 
kindness and affection. He was very tender 
and gentle with children. From what I have 
heard, it seems probable that the last person he 
spoke to on earth was the boy to whom he 
spoke at the railroad station at Mifflin, just be- 
fore the fatal stroke. And I know just the tone 
and the manner with which Dr. Higbee spoke 
to that boy. 

There is one thing pertaining to Dr. Higbee 
of which I will not venture directly to speak — 
his life as a Christian man. His real life was 
"hid with Christ in God.'' There was in him 
something remote, mystic, unobserved, seldom 
spoken of. I recall now more than one occa- 
sion on which a word, a look, a movement, 
made one aware that he was thinking much of 
things of which he did not speak, and that there 
was in him a deeper current than that which 
the observer saw. 

I leave it to others, also, to speak of the serv- 
ices which he rendered to the great Common- 
wealth of Pennsylvania, in the high and re- 
sponsible office to which he was called in his 
later years, that of Superintendent of Public 
Instruction. How faithfully he administered 
the affairs of this offce : how well he represented 
the public schools of Pennsylvania, speaking in 
their name, caring for their welfare, planning 
for their future; and how he has gone to his 
honored grave mourned by a vast army of the 
teachers and pupils of this great State— of this 
there are others who have told and will tell. 

There is little to regret, it seems to me, as 
regards the manner of our friend's departure. 
So swift a death would seem to be a close not 
unbecoming a life so rapid and urgent. To 
every high-minded, ardent, and passionate 
server of his fellow-men, there is something 
attractive in the thought of passing away in the 
midst of his activity, of dying at his post and 
"with the harness on." To stand up in one's 
place for the last time ; to discharge with con- 
scientious care the last duty ; to render the last 
service ; to say the last word ; and then to die, 
as by the swift and merciful stroke of an angel's 
invisible sword, — there is beauty and glory in 
that. Though sad, yet neither inappropriate nor 
undesirable was the manner of the death of our 
honored and beloved friend. The thought of it 



suggests to us Mrs. Barbauld's beautiful and 
touching lines on " Life," — lines with which we 
may not improperly bring to a close this our 
affectionate tribute : 

Life ! we've been long together, 
Thro' pleasant and thro' cloudy weather; 
'Tis hard to part when friends are dear, 
Perhaps 'twill cost a sigh, a tear: 
Then steal away, give little warning, 

Choose thine own time ; 
Say not Good-night, but, in some brighter clime, 

Bid me Good-morning ! 



DR. ARNOLD AT RUGBY: DR. HIGBEE AT MER- 

CERSBURG IN CLASS ROOM AND 

COLLEGE CHAPEL. 

The longest paper in the present volume 
is one that might be yet longer without loss 
of interest to the reader. It presents a 
graphic sketch of Dr. Higbee in the class- 
room and the pulpit. Dr. Arnold of Rugby 
had here his counterpart in Dr. Higbee of 
Mercersburg. It is from the pen of Supt. 
E. Mackey, of Butler, Pa., who was for 
five years a student under Dr. Higbee. In 
an accompanying note he says: "I have 
thought that other men of the State would 
refer to the eminent services of Dr. Higbee 
as Superintendent of Public Instruction, and 
have therefore confined myself almost en- 
tirely to the impressions he made upon me 
as preacher and teacher at college. As I 
know no other pupil of his among the 
Superintendents of the State, I have felt the 
duty devolve upon me to offer some tribute 
to his praise in his favorite calling. I have 
been with him often since he has been State 
Superintendent, and he has several times 
been my guest. In sending you this paper, 
which I fear is too long — for I neither know 
where to begin nor where to leave off — my 
only desire is to do something in his honor, 
something to aid in doing justice to the 
name and memory of one who has done so 
much for me." 

" Each man is a hero and an oracle to some- 
body, and to that person whatever he says has 
an enhanced value." Dr. Higbee was for me 
the grandest character I have ever known. In 
my boyhood he was my hero, to my mind the 
embodiment of all learning, the personification 
of every virtue. In manhood he was in the 
highest sense my master, the type of human 
perfection, my exemplar in my chosen calling. 
The thought of meriting his approval was an 
inspiration to my greatest efforts. Long as I 
have known him I have loved and revered him, 
and I have never seen a blemish in his char- 
acter nor a flaw in his scholarship. 

To tell what Dr. Higbee has done for me 
would be to write my own eulogy. I was 
scarcely fifteen years old when I found my way 
to Mercersburg College, and there I stayed five 



■OBEY HIM, AND YOU WILL LEARN TO LOVE HIM." 



69 



years until I had finished the course. What 
man has power to open the history of the de- 
velopment of his character, and trace the re- 
sults of every influence at work during his col- 
lege days ? As I see it now, the best I have 
was of Dr. Higbee's planting. 

It was from the pulpit that he made the most 
vivid impression upon my mind. I doubt 
whether I had ever listened to a sermon from 
beginning to end until my first Sunday in our 
College Chapel. That morning, as I entered the 
chapel, I found myself facing the entire body of 
students. I was too embarrassed to proceed far, 
and sat down in the nearest seat, which was al- 
most within reach of Dr. Higbee and his pulpit. 
The liturgical service was novel and impressive. 
Then the Doctor began his sermon. I was 
spell-bound — thrilled to my very soul. It was 
not conversion, it was the joy of the soul in the 
apprehension of truth. Need I say that at 
every service during all my stay of five years 
at the college I sat in the same seat, nearest 
the pulpit ? I learned that the nearer the foun- 
tain, the purer the stream and the sweeter the 
draught. It has since been my privilege to 
hear some of the most famous pulpit orators of 
our time, both in this country and abroad, but 
I have never been so moved as hundreds of 
times in that little chapel at Mercersburg. 

I think the Doctor was at his best there. We 
students were specially prepared to hear and 
enjoy his sermons. Doubtless they were spe- 
cially directed to our needs. Our field of study 
afforded him numberless themes and illustra- 
tions. However barren a field of thought may 
have appeared to us, when Dr. Higbee went 
gleaning thither, there was a most glorious 
harvest. Mind and matter, science and art, 
opened their treasures to him, and he held 
them up to us imbued with new beauty by his 
magic touch. The portrayals of his lofty ideals 
were to us like visions of Paradise, and lifted us 
with rapture to its very portals. How often, like 
the utterance of a divine inspiration came his 
revelation of "the true, the beautiful, and the 
good." 

To my mind he had all the elements of the 
great orator. He had so much personal mag- 
netism that I could sit, and look, and listen 
while he spoke, and be thrilled with an inde- 
finable pleasure, even when I did not under- 
stand what he was saying. His voice was 
characterized by sweetness and power, and his 
enunciation was very distinct. He was always 
precise in his use of terms, and I can recall 
metaphors that he coined which rivaled in vivid 
imagery those of Pindar or Homer. He often 
used a vigorous, explosive kind of emphasis on 
certain words that contained the key to his 
thought. His gestures were frequent, usually 
rapid, and peculiarly his own. It was a pleas- 
ure to see him while he spoke. 

Yet he was versatile in his style, never mo- 
notonous. At times his speech was smooth 
and flowing, abounding in exquisite descriptions, 
most charming word-painting; then again it was 
crisp and concise, full of power, like a mountain 
torrent. He made the minds of his hearers his 
own, and led their wills into a captivity none 



cared to escape. One left his presence with the 
desire and the will to act as he directed. Guilt 
and hypocrisy trembled before him, and hid 
their heads for very shame. The blatant voice 
of heresy and infidelity was silenced in the pres- 
ence of the majesty of truth. Sin was robbed 
of its mask, and its hideous countenance was 
held naked to the world that all might see the 
filth and horrid purpose written there. How- 
ever unconcerned we were with life's most vital 
theme, however complacent as to the welfare of 
our souls, it seemed to me that Dr. Higbee 
could convict us all of sin, and drive us all 
with abject shame to penitential prayer. His 
was the irresistible eloquence, heaven-born, 
that moves the hearts of men to hate evil, that 
drives them to repentance and "better things" 
— that leads them with an unutterable longing 
to the feet of the meek and lowly Jesus. 

He read hymns and the Scripture lessons with 
perfect expression and with singular power. 
To hear him read was to find new thought and 
new beauty in almost every sentence. His was 
the rare power to read aloud so that it was more 
satisfactory to hear him than to read the pass- 
age for ourselves. He read so as to cause his 
hearers to understand the meaning, and to the 
rhyme of the poet lent the beauty of his voice. 
Dr. Higbee's favorite hymns will never be for- 
gotten by his students. With how much feel- 
ing would he often quote: 

Cold mountains and the midnight air 
Witnessed the fervor of His prayer. 

How full of devotion our frequent morning 
hymn: 

Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty. 

Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee. 

I was too timid and too much in awe of him 
to discover much of his power as a pastor. I 
went to him for help when I was trying to de- 
cide the momentous question of joining the 
Church ; told him that I could not love God as 
I thought I ought ; that I could love people that 
I had seen, but not an invisible, unimaginable 
being, a spirit. He said: "Obedience is love. 
Obey Him, and you will learn to love Him." 
My problem was solved, and no tongue can tell 
how much that answer did for me. In my last 
days at college he especially befriended me, 
and with the bitter thought of the saddest fail- 
ure of my life, comes the sweet recollection of 
his tender sympathy and consolation. 

Dr. Higbee was a lover of nature. When he 
chose to picture its beauties, it was a most 
exquisite pastoral poem in prose, and a Theoc- 
ritus himself might have envied him the elo- 
quence of his diction, the charm of his fancy. 

He was in sympathy with the vital current of 
the plant as well as with the throbbing heart of 
man. The wanton destruction of plant or ani- 
mal grieved him. We were taught to respect 
life, however lowly its form, to recognize it as a 
gift divine with a mission of its own. Impressed 
with such thoughts as these, no student in his 
daily walk went idly slashing with his cane the 
leaves of the wayside bush or the inviting heads 
of timothy, but rather with a feeling akin to pity 
regarded each flower torn from its parent 



7° 



DR. E. E. HI G BEE: IN LOVING REMEMBRANCE. 



stem, each plant crushed beneath the wanton 
heel. 

Himself a poet, a linguist, a writer of classic 
prose, he was an enthusiast in the field of 
literature. He was possessed of the most ex- 
quisite taste, the finest imagination, the keenest 
sensibilities, and an extraordinary acquaintance 
in the realm of ancient and modern literature. 
I had tried in vain to read Shakespeare until I 
entered Dr. Higbee's class, in " Readings from 
English Literature." The selections he read 
from Beaumont and Fletcher, and Massinger, 
and other dramatists, were fascinating; but when 
he began to read Shakespeare our enthusiasm 
knew no bounds. It was not only his keen 
analysis of the drama, his enthusiasm, his bright 
comments, that made the play of such thrilling 
interest to us — it was also his elocution, the 
magic of his voice. As a reader of Shakespeare, 
indeed, I have never heard his equal except 
Edwin Booth. 

Every point of beauty or interest was brought 
out, the design and history of the play, the sub- 
tile philosophy pervading it, the meaning of its 
division into acts, the harmony and unity of its 
parts, the keen portrayal of human nature, the 
thought, the language, the arrangement, the 
figures of speech, the gems of expression — it 
seemed to me that everything that the myriad- 
minded poet had conceived and given form was 
revealed to us ! Yet we never tired — and left 
his class-room with regret, only to hasten to our 
own rooms to find new treasures in those fasci- 
nating pages. I doubt whether a student ever 
left this class without a love and relish for the 
work of the great master keener than for any 
novel! 

It was thus with all subjects the Doctor taught. 
The hour spent in his class-room for Latin, 
Greek, Ethics, ./Esthetics, and History of Phil- 
osophy, was an hour of thrilling interest, always 
to be anticipated, never to be forgotten. Let it 
not be imagined that Dr. Higbee's success in 
the class-room was magnified by contrast. The 
Faculty of the College in his day comprised 
men apt to teach, of broad scholarship, full of 
animation in the class-room, worthy comrades, 
characterized by a self-denying, patriotic devo- 
tion, like his own, to the interests of the College. 

He usually sat at his desk while teaching his 
class. In lectures he was wont to begin with 
bowed head, with the attitude and tone of one 
soliloquizing ; then, as his interest in the theme 
grew, or as some especially attractive line of 
thought presented itself, he would become more 
animated ; he would rise to his feet, step out be- 
side his desk, his countenance all aglow as if 
in the halo of divine inspiration. Then would 
come an exposition, an extempore discourse, 
that beggars all description, in thought trans- 
cending anything we had ever conceived, in elo- 
quence thrilling the soul with emotions that 
must be experienced to be known. One can 
no more have an adequate idea of Dr. Higbee 
in the class-room than of Switzerland without 
having been there. He was a skilled questioner, 
and often employed the Socratic method in 
drawing out his students or in developing his 
own thought. He was marvelously clear in his 



explanations, and never failed to make a vivid 
impression with the subjects he chose specially 
to emphasize. 

He was a most successful disciplinarian. The 
secret of his success lay partly in his good 
judgment, partly in his noble example, largely 
in the dominant force of his own personality. 
In class no one dared annoy him. At that time 
we did not know why. It was simply a thing 
not to be considered for a moment, even though 
we had not the faintest idea what the conse- 
quences would be. Although we knew that he 
was always kind, never severe, yet we feared to 
offend him, and the mere thought of our doing 
so had in it some nameless dread. 

He was in sympathy with his students in all 
their legitimate pastimes and pursuits. I was 
fond of skating. The creek was a mile away. 
I was never refused permission to absent my- 
self from chapel exercises and study hours to 
enjoy an evening's skating. Dr. Higbee him- 
self, it was said, was the finest skater ever seen 
on the creek. He must have been a most ac- 
complished athlete. Even when he was nearly 
fifty years old I have seen him kick a foot-ball 
from his hands straight over the College cupola 
— a feat no student could perform during my 
College days. The College building was four 
stories high, and the cupola not more than ten 
feet wide ! 

He was a perfect gentleman, not so much 
perhaps in grace of manner or in stylish de- 
meanor, as in the better sense, that " it is only 
noble to be good." His gentlemanliness was 
but the outward expression of the heart that was 
within him. I recall a circumstance that illus- 
trates this fact : Sam Brooks, as he was called 
by the boys, was a colored man so long em- 
ployed by the boys about the College in various 
chores that he doubtless considered himself part 
of the institution. On Washington's birthday 
he was invited with mock formality to deliver 
an address. The boys anticipated some fun, 
and Brooks could make a speech with all the 
characteristics of his race. The students assem- 
bled, Brooks mounted the College-steps, hat in 
hand. Just then Dr. Higbee came up; Brooks 
bowed, and Dr. Higbee raised his hat. There 
was no mockery about it. Dr. Higbee would 
raise his hat to a colored washerwoman. Our 
orator began his speech; not a boy interrupted, 
not a boy attempted to guy him in the least. 
He wound up with his pet peroration : " George 
Washington, Dr. Higbee, and Mercersburg Col- 
lege," and then the boys cheered as only col- 
lege boys can, and if not a cheer of patriotism 
it was a cheer of filial pride in our Alma Mater 
and for the President of our Faculty. 

There were rumors of a wedding in town, 
and some of us boys that loved to make a 
racket went down to join in the serenade. 
Some days after, in the chapel, the Doctor spoke 
feelingly of a death-bed scene — how the friends 
of the dying were gathered around to hear her 
last words ; how impressive those moments 
when the soul was about to take its flight ; how, 
the victim of some acute nervous disorder, the 
dying woman suffered at the slightest noise ; 
how, suddenly, there had burst in upon that 



AN EXAMPLE OF THE NOBLEST VIRTUES. 



7i 



sacred stillness the fiendish sound of horns, of 
battered cans, of screaming whistles, demoni- 
acal howls, and how, in agony, the sufferer had 
breathed her last, and friends so dear were un- 
able to catch one word of the message she tried 
to leave them. I doubt whether any one of us 
has ever participated in a "calithumpian con- 
cert" since. Thus by appeals to our sympathy, 
by glowing pictures of high ideals, by precept 
and by example, we were taught the invaluable 
lessons of charity, of love for our fellow-men, 
of respect for the wishes of others, reverence for 
age and for sacred places; and we were in- 
spired to live and work for a noble purpose, 
"counting all things but loss for the excellency 
of the knowledge of Jesus Christ our Lord." 

In my intercourse with young men from other 
colleges, I have often had reason to think that 
Dr. Higbee's students were witnesses to his 
teaching. There was no unkindly feeling 
among men of different classes ; Freshmen and 
Juniors, Seniors and "Preps," mingled freely 
with one another. We students, as a rule, 
raised our hats to every member of the Faculty 
and to the clergymen of the town. We took 
off our hats and entered any sanctuary rever- 
ently, even when there was no service. There 
was no hazing. Though fond of practical 
jokes, and ever ready for a college prank, we 
knew that the predominant sentiment of the 
students would denounce anything mean. 
Popular sentiment, too, condemned vulgarity. 
Profanity was rare. An unusually large per- 
centage of our students chose the ministry as their 
calling. The influence of the Doctor was even 
more marked in the post-graduate life of his stu- 
dents. One can almost recognize his pupils in 
any vocation, but especially in preaching and 
public speaking do they reveal the signet of the 
master-mind of Mercersburg. 

Our last days at college were especially im- 
pressive. With the love and anxiety of a 
father, the Doctor sought to prepare us for 
leaving our college home, and to equip us with 
right principles and high ideals for life and its 
duties. The classes usually sat in order in the 
College chapel, the Seniors in front, and to them 
the Doctor especially directed his teaching. In 
choosing an occupation, we were taught that it 
was better to go to work at once, even to break 
stones on the road or to dig in the ditch, than 
to wait in idleness for something to turn up; to 
lay hold of the duty we found next to us and to 
do it with our might, rather than to stand still 
in procrastinating indecision ; that to labor is 
honoAble and right, and that there is more 
honor, and more wisdom even, in blacking 
shoes and in doing it honestly and well, than 
in going into a profession we were unfitted to 
fill. In those last days, how fervent his prayers 
for us, how earnest his advice, how eloquent 
his pleading that we should give ourselves 
wholly to the Lord Jesus. " God grant," said he 
— and how he could utter those words ! — " God 
grant that the best minds in the Senior class 
may choose to serve the Lord in the holy 
ministry." What wonder that so large a per- 
centage of his pupils followed his example ? 
One-third of my class and one-half of the class 



succeeding mine are preaching the Gospel. 
Then, if ever, was his eloquence mighty to 
move our souls to great resolves; then was 
sown the seed that has blossomed and borne 
fruit in hundreds of lives ; and then was Doctor 
Higbee the scource of an influence for good 
whose vast results God alone can comprehend. 
He was himself an example of the noblest 
virtues. Were we tempted to shirk our recita- 
tions — there was the thought of Dr. Higbee with 
one of his attacks of sick headache, bravely 
sticking to his post at the preceptor's desk. 
Were we tempted to seek other institutions of 
learning to finish ourjcourse — there was Dr. Hig- 
bee refusing a call at $4,000 a year and a posi- 
tion of comparative ease, to remain loyal to the 
interests of the College, with its endless tasks, 
on the pittance often or twelve hundred a year, 
and that seldom, if ever, fully paid. Did work 
accumulate upon us, and were we in danger of 
growing faint-hearted and discouraged — there 
was the Doctor forging ahead, overcoming all 
difficulties, hurling obstacles out of his path with 
the strength of a giant, and pushing along 
toward the goal of his high endeavor with a zeal 
that it was an inspiration to behold. In those 
sad hours when trials came, when the hand of 
chastisement was laid heavily upon us, and 
when all the way seemed dark, then came the 
sweet comfort of the hymn the Doctor so often 
quoted, whose pathetic story we knew so well, 

Judge not the Lord with feeble sense, 

But trust Him for His grace, 
Behind a frowning providence 

He hides a smiling face. 

With all his lea/ning, with all his honors, Dr. 
Higbee was one of the most modest of men. 
He never referred to his attainments. There 
were few, if any of the College boys that had 
any notion of them outside of the department 
he chanced to teach. His record as a college 
boy, his achievements as a theologian, his pre- 
eminence in mathematics, were unknown to me 
in my college days. I have learned them since 
from others. Yet with all his extraordinary at- 
tainments he was never heard to boast. Some 
men are so constituted that they crave to be 
told of their talents and their successes. There 
are public lecturers that will wait upon the plat- 
form to receive the tributes of praise from their 
hearers, and that seem to subside into a bitter 
fit of melancholy if they receive them not. Dr. 
Higbee sought no compliments, shunned adula- 
tion, despised flattery. He was sincere ; he 
said frankly what he thought. As a teacher he 
seldom commended in words, but the student 
that received a compliment from him upon his 
work has reason to treasure it for a life-time. 

Dr. Higbee was most richly endowed with 
that charity that " suffereth long and is kind." 
I remembei he was my guest shortly after the 
trouble in regard to the Soldiers' Orphan 
Schools. I was very indignant, and could not 
refrain from giving vent to my feelings. I had 
taught in an Orphan School, and was acquainted 
with teachers in others of these schools and 
homes; I knew the Doctor's plans for the edu- 
cation of these orphans ; and I knew that he 



7 2 



DR. E. E. HIGBEE: IN LOVING REMEMBRANCE. 



was a man of absolute integrity of character, 
and that it was impossible for the charges to be 
true that were laid against him. The Doctor 
spoke of his persecutors in the kindest way — no 
shadow of malice, no thought of revenge; time 
would convince them of their error and would 
vindicate him ; and he went on to extenuate 
their conduct with such loving charity, in such 
a way that I felt rebuked. He seemed abso- 
lutely incapable of hating his fellow-men ; he 
certainly " loved his enemies." 

It is not for me to set forth the boundless 
riches in such a character as that of Dr. Higbee. 
There may be those that have fathomed the 
depths of his mind, and they will speak of his 
great intellect. I speak of him simply as I re- 
member him at college, as pastor and teacher. 
Nor do I speak for myself alone. We all loved 
him. Every student of his revered and re- 
spected him. It seems to me that they always 
spoke well of him, and that almost every day 
there was some new-found quality, or charm, 
or glory in our hero that was discussed amongst 
us in terms of highest praise. The news of his 
death has made many sad hearts. But though 
dead he speaks. We hear his voice to day as 
in those dear old by gone times, and we go 
forth resolved to be more worthy than ever 
of his noble teaching and his no less noble 
training. 



CO-LABORERS AND COMPANIONS. 

The following paper is from the pen of 
Mr. George S. Jones, of Philadelphia, late 
Financial Clerk of the Department of Public 
Instruction, a fine scholar, graduate of rank 
of one of the leading New England colleges, 
— a gentleman who has made with his own 
hands, for his personal use as an amateur 
astronomer and microscopist, a telescope 
and a compound microscope, both excellent 
instruments, himself working out the mathe- 
matical formulae needed in the construction 
of the lenses. Dr. Higbee used greatly to 
enjoy this scholarly association. Mr. Jones 
writes as follows : 

Your purpose to dedicate an issue of the The 
School Journal io the memory of our late friend 
and associate, Dr. Higbee was, I think, most 
happily conceived ; and I gladly contribute my 
small part towards making it the fitting memor- 
ial that it should be. Such a memorial, made up 
of the tributes of appreciating friends, is better 
than any monument of stone erected on the 
Capitol grounds or in any other public place — 
however imposing and durable it might be, and 
however honorable to his memory as a great 
and good man. 

My acquaintance with Dr. Higbee began 
with his entrance upon the duties of his office 
as State Superintendent of Public Instruction. 
For eight years I was thrown into the most 
intimate relations with him, nominally as an 
employe in the Department, but in his own 
estimation as a co-laborer and companion. I 
make this distinction advisedly, and it applies 



alike to all the deputies and clerks under him. 
From the first day of his entrance into the office 
our little coterie was placed upon a most demo- 
cratic basis. The distinction of chief and sub- 
ordinate had no apparent existence. We were 
simply comrades working together in a com- 
mon cause, each with his allotted part to do, 
and none entitled to more consideration than 
the rest. It is true, the Doctor, as we always 
called him, was unavoidably distinguished from 
the others of us by having a separate room; but 
he was seldom in it, except when he had work 
to do there. His favorite lounging room — the 
room to which he came to enjoy the passing 
moment, to read the papers, to talk over his 
plans, to unbend himself — was ours. 

Those only who knew the Doctor well can 
understand fully what " unbending " in his case 
meant. Not that he was ever stiff or formal ; 
he was always genial, always companionable, 
and his presence among us always brought sun- 
shine. But there were times when he became 
more than genial, when an overflow of animal 
spirits carried everything before it, and he be- 
came boyishly frolicsome. It was useless to 
attempt to work at such times. "Come," he 
would say, "what is the use of all this drudgery ? 
Let us have a little recreation," and away we 
would go together in a round of frivolity, a 
mock speech from the Doctor, perhaps, or a 
happy burlesque rendition of a scene in Shake- 
speare, with a paper-cutter for a dagger, or — 
well, if the public had been admitted at such a 
time it would have been as dumfounded as 
was the ambassador who found King Agesilaos 
romping with his infant child. He entered as 
heartily into the spirit of honest fun as into that 
of earnest work — and how he could work 
everybody knows! Not another man in ten 
thousand, placed in his position, could have 
made as free with his subordinates as he did 
without losing caste. But in him we recognized 
in this occasional exuberance of spirits the 
gushing overflow of a whole-souled nature 
which had never taken on the fetters of con- 
ventional restraint. 

Dr. Higbee was the most unassuming, the 
most ingenuous, the most natural man I have 
ever known. What he did was often done 
from a spontaneous impulse, without stopping 
to consider whether or not it was the "correct" 
thing to do. If he chose to carry a lunch- 
basket, he did so; if he wished to roast potatoes 
in his office, why not? If you invited him to 
your home and left him in your parlor, he was 
quite likely to turn up in your kitchen, if per- 
chance your wife had called you there to con- 
sult on some grave culinary matter. What 
harm ? He could talk with you there as well as 
elsewhere, and besides he could give some 
advice abont broiling the shad. An hour later, 
perhaps, you had him in your library engaged 
in the discussion of some subject, literary or 
historical or educational, in which he was 
deeply interested, his countenance aglow with 
earnestness; or perhaps, you were listening to 
his impulsive oratory before a County Institute, 
and involuntarily you asked yourself, " Is this 
the same man f " Certainly it was ; the situa- 



HIS LEARNING NEVER OBTRUDED ITSELF. 



7?, 



tion only had changed, and he had been drawn 
out in another direction. But there was the 
same artlessness, the same homely directness, 
nothing studied or strained, everything impulsive 
and natural. The Doctor's style of oratory was 
peculiar, but there was no art about it. His 
choice of words, his imagery, his impassioned 
earnestness, were just what they were, simply 
because they could be nothing else. His evi- 
dent sincerity was a vital element in his power 
as a public speaker. Every one who listened to 
him felt that he meant what he said and said 
what he meant. 

I have spoken of him more particularly as 
we knew him in the office. I leave for others 
to speak of his superior scholarship, his love of 
nature, of art, of music, of whatever is beautiful, 
and of his power as a pulpit orator. Yet I ven- 
ture to offer my own judgment upon one or two 
points in regard to which I think he was gen- 
erally not quite correctly estimated. He was 
an unusually good mathematician, with a cer- 
tain fondness for that exact science, but this was 
not his strong point. The field of the natural 
sciences he had gone over carefully, as is done 
by every man of culture at the present day, yet 
I think he had no special inclination for the 
sciences as such, with the exception of botany, 
which deals the most directly with things of 
which he was most passionately fond ; and of 
astronomy, in which the splendor and mystery 
of the stars stirred his being to its profoundest 
depths. His love of nature was the love of a 
poet and artist rather than of a scientist. He had 
little patience with the crawling method of 
arriving at truth ; but placed far more reliance 
on the intuitive method. Reason might carry 
the searcher after truth to a certain distance ; 
but beyond was truth — the truth of all truths — 
which reason could not reach and which could 
only be seen clearly through the eye of faith. 
His ratiocination was essentially metaphysical, 
not scientific in the accepted sense of the term. 

In history he was profoundly read, and his 
studies here had ever one purpose, the tracing 
of the Christian idea, which he found revealed 
in the whole story of man's progress from the 
beginning. 

I cannot close without paying a tribute to a 
trait in his character for which humility is the 
best word I can find. With all his great learn- 
ing, he was one of the most unpresuming of 
men. Indeed, I do not believe that he himself 
knew that there was anything remarkable about 
his attainments ! He knew, of course, that he 
had read and studied a great deal, but I do not 
believe that he was fully conscious how thor- 
oughly he had digested and assimilated what 
he had read, nor how exceptionally fine was the 
memory which kept his vast store of learning at 
ready command. 

His learning never obtruded itself: it was a 
light kept, it would often seem, "under a bushel;" 
still, it could not be concealed, but would occa- 
sionally flash out. It was impossible to start in 
his presence any question of art or literature or 
history, to which he could not bring some elu- 
cidation in the way of commentary or of apt 
quotation. Let me give a single instance, to 



illustrate. On one occasion I had taken with 
me to the country, on my vacation, a copy of 
yEschylus (light reading for summer!) and had 
read the Prometheus. Upon my mentioning 
the fact to him on my return, his countenance 
brightened up and he at once launched out into 
a running commentary on the play, displaying 
as great familiarity with it as though he had 
read it only that morning, and even quoting, if 
I remember rightly, a passage near the close — 
the effect of all of which was to make me re- 
read the play, feeling that I had overlooked the 
half of its beauties ! 

But I am running on to an inordinate length. 
The theme is one which I am loath to drop; 
but I must leave room for others. Personally I 
have felt the Doctor's death very keenly, as the 
loss of one for whom I had come to cherish a 
peculiar affection, and whose friendship I had 
hoped still to enjoy for many years. I recall a 
passage in the last letter he wrote me, shortly 
after the death of his friend Dr. Lane, of Cham- 
bersburg— a letter pervaded with a tone of un- 
wonted sadness — " One by one my old friends 
are dropping off, and I cling all the more closely 
to those who are left." There is here a moral 
for us all. 



INDOMITABLE ENERGY AND FACILITY IN THE 
DESPATCH OF BUSINESS. 

Dr. Higbee visited Clarion county during 
the spring of 1882. He came on Monday, 
and remained through the week until mid- 
night of the Friday following. The writer 
was County Superintendent, and was en- 
gaged in a tour over the county conducting 
examinations for elementary school gradu- 
ates. Public meetings were held each even- 
ing, and were attended by citizens, teachers 
and pupils. Dr. Higbee was my constant 
companion that week. He assisted during 
the day in the examinations, looking over 
the papers, and marking the grades with as 
much care as if the young people in the 
classes were passing an examination for a 
college degree. His industry was remark- 
able. In the evening he would address the 
assembled people on subjects pertaining to 
the school work. The influence of this visit 
by the State Superintendent to the county 
is felt to day. I recall his genial compan- 
ionship as we drove from one appointment 
to another. Although I afterwards spent 
four years in the School Department with 
him as my chief, I recall this first week of our 
intimate friendship with peculiar emotion. 
Each succeeding day brought to my notice 
new qualities of heart and head which 
commanded my admiration and love for 
him. What new inspiration I felt under the 
spell of his presence ! How he kindled the 
noblest aspirations in the hearts of the chil- 
dren whom he met in the school-room ! 



74 



DR. E. E. HIGBEE : IN LOVING REMEMBRANCE. 



Ere another year elapsed he invited me to 
take a position in the School Department, 
and I accepted. For four years I remained 
near him, and only left the place when 
called to another position. During these 
years I learned to know him as only those 
who were near him could know him. His 
great intellect, coupled with a simple and 
child-like nature ; his nobility of character; 
his deep religious feeling ; his charity for 
the weak and unfortunate ; his indomitable 
energy, and the facility with which he could 
despatch business, made him one of the 
remarkable men of the age. All who knew 
him intimately loved him. 

His work is ended, but the influence of 
his life will go down the ages. His connec- 
tion with the schools of our Commonwealth 
marks an era in our educational history of 
no mean importance. His memory will be 
cherished by the tens of thousands of chil- 
dren, teachers, and superintendents, with 
whom he came into contact. His was a 
life of goodness and devotion worthy of 
imitation. — Prof. A. J. Davis, Principal 
State Normal School, Clarion, Pa. 



" GLAD THAT WE HAVE MET HIM. 

The friends of popular education in this 
part of the State learned of the death of Dr. 
Higbee with feelings of profound sorrow. 
We felt not only that the cause had sus- 
tained a great loss in the removal of a noble 
and inspiring leader, but that every worker 
in the schools, every lover of the best inter- 
ests of youth, had lost a friend. His offi- 
cial utterances were always freighted with 
wisdom, and with encouragement and hope, 
indicating a firm grasp of truth, and an un- 
wavering faith that it would prevail. 

It was my good fortune, about two years 
ago, to have the Doctor in our home for a 
part of two days and a night. None of us 
will ever forget that delightful guest. The 
conversation lasted till the small hours 
came, and embraced a variety of topics. 
Poetry, German metaphysics, theology, 
and pedagogics, each received a share of at- 
tention ; but the prevailing theme, the one 
returned to again and again, was the true 
aim of our public schools and how it can 
best be attained. Upon this subject his 
words were quickening and helpful, and 
were a complete demonstration, if such 
were needed, that a lofty ideal in education 
is at once the truest and the most practi- 
cable. During the evening a number of our 
city School Directors called, and each one 
of these afterwards declared himself, not 
only charmed with the man, but newly im- 



pressed with the importance of school work, 
and more desirous than ever that this work 
should be well done. "We are glad that 
we have met him," was the expression of 
all. I give this as an instance of his power 
to affect men in the right way. 

When such a man, so broad in culture, 
so quick in sympathy, so sure in faith, 
whose mere presence was an encouragement, 
departs from us, we feel deeply our great 
loss. But his character, his words, and his 
life are not lost to us; their far-reaching 
significance and good influences will long 
be felt by the members of that profession 
which he loved and for which he so success- 
fully labored. — Supt C. A. Babcock, Oil 
City, Venango Co., Pa. 



WITH THOUSANDS OF OTHERS. 

We are all influenced to a greater or less 
degree by the personality of those with 
whom we come into contact. It is evident 
that we are often unconscious of this influ- 
ence, but when the personality is so pro- 
nounced and so positive as was that of our 
highly esteemed friend, Dr. Higbee, we 
cannot fail to discover at least some of 
its effects upon us as individuals. I first saw 
and heard him, as did thousands of other 
teachers, on the Institute platform. It was 
soon after he was appointed Superintendent 
of Public Instruction. Those of us who 
were not acquainted with him naturally 
looked upon him somewhat as pupils upon a 
new teacher the first day ; and as pupils form 
a rather correct estimate of the character of 
the new teacher in one day's experience, so 
we were enabled from one of his character- 
istic, soul-stirring addressess to get at least 
a glimpse of the lofty character of our new 
Superintendent. 

Some of us had been led to doubt the 
wisdom of the Governor's choice. This 
doubt was not prompted by anything that 
we knew of Dr. Higbee beyond the fact that 
his previous experience had not been directly 
in the line of the great work that he was 
about to undertake. His first address made 
a great impression upon my mind, and did 
much to remove any doubt I may have had. 
The following paragraph from my note- 
book, written at the time, may not be out 
of place in this connection : 

" Dr. Higbee is evidently a man of deep, 
well-grounded convictions, with power to 
express them. His address to-day proves 
that he thinks well what he says, and says 
well what he thinks. The eloquent, intelli- 
gent manner in which he spoke in behalf of 
the dear children of the Commonwealth, 



WISDOM OF THE GOVERNOR'S CHOICE. 



75 



and finally summed it up into one expressive 
exhortation, ' Don't forget that the schools 
are for the children and not the children for 
the schools,' shows that he has a broad con- 
ception of the great work upon which he has 
just entered. It was inspiring to hear him 
speak of the worth and work of the true 
teacher. He feelingly referred to the ex- 
ample of the Great Teacher who said, ' Suf- 
fer the little children to come unto me, and 
forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom 
of heaven.' There were no uncertain tones 
as to where his sympathies are. The hum- 
blest teachers of the State, as well as the 
most exalted, will find in him as they found 
in his honored predecessor, a kind-hearted, 
sympathetic friend." 

Not long after hearing that address it was 
my privilege to become personally acquainted 
with him, and, contrary to the oft-repeated 
statement that the more intimately we be- 
come acquainted with great men, the less 
they grow in our estimation, the good im- 
pression then made was intensified by every 
subsequent platform talk or personal inter- 
view. I take great pleasure to-day in adding 
my testimony along with that of thousands 
of others, whose lives have been influenced 
by his grand personality — to the fact that 
the world has been made better by the life 
of Dr. Higbee. — Supt. L. E. McGinnes, 
Steelton, Dauphin County, Pa. 



TO THE SACRIFICE OF HIS LIFE. 

It was my privilege to listen to Dr. Hig- 
bee under a variety of circumstances. The 
first time I met him was at the first public 
commencement of the Media schools in 
June of 1883, in response to my invitation 
when principal of those schools. He spoke 
to the audience at some length, and made a 
strong plea for a higher moral standard, not 
only in the schools, but in the communities 
at large; and urged upon the citizens the 
great necessity for a more general interest in 
the public school system. This was his first 
introduction to a Delaware county audience. 
Our exercises were in the afternoon, and in 
the evening he went to the closing exercises 
of the public schools of Lower Chichester, 
at Linwood. 

A year or two thereafter, he attended our 
Teachers' Institute at Media, and the next 
time that I met him was at Harrisburg, in 
February, 1888, when he called the superin- 
tendents of the State together in convention. 
In June of the same year, I was associated 
with him on the examining board at the 
West Chester State Normal School. On the 



evening of the first day's work of the Board, 
we all met in Dr. Higbee's room, where 
many pleasantries passed. In the conduct 
of his examinations he showed himself full 
of sympathy, and frequently took occasion 
to impress the graduates with the importance 
of their calling. 

It was my privilege to hear him speak be- 
fore the National Educational Association, 
in San Francisco, July, 1888. He there 
took part in the discussion of the subject, 
"Text- books, and legislation pertaining, 
thereto." I shall not attempt to give a 
synopsis of his talk, which, although given 
late in the afternoon, was listened to with 
great interest, but simply state that he op- 
posed very earnestly the idea of a State at- 
tempting to publish a uniform system of 
text books for use in the public schools. 

On November 5th and 6th, 1889, Dr. 
Higbee attended the sessions of the Dela- 
ware County Teachers' Institute held in 
Chester. He favored our Institute with 
three very forcible talks. Here again he 
raised his voice in behalf of high moral and 
religious training, and said that the teacher 
should do much towards imparting such in- 
struction, because of his opportunities to 
shape and mould the young mind. He also 
spoke of the increased State appropriation 
for the public schools of the Commonwealth, 
and urged upon the directors and citizens 
to see that it was applied to increasing the 
length of the school term where necessary ; 
and also to increasing the teachers' salaries, 
and providing well-selected libraries for the 
use of the pupils in every public school in 
the State. He said that the last object 
was one very dear to his heart. If we wish 
to prevent our boys and girls from reading 
the trashy literature of the day, we must put 
into their hands that which will elevate 
them and give them higher ideals of life. 

On Wednesday afternoon he accompanied 
our teachers on a visit to Roach's shipyard, 
and there carefully inspected every stage of 
progress in which he found those great 
ships. He seemed to thoroughly enjoy the 
trip, and expressed himself as delighted 
with his visit to our Institute. It was a 
great pleasure to have him with us during 
those two days, because it gave our people 
a better opportunity to become acquainted 
with him than ever before, and the impres- 
sions he made upon their minds were such 
as to give them higher and nobler ideas of 
life, and make them the better for having 
listened to him. 

When the sad news of his sudden prostra- 
tion came to us in the daily papers, nothing 



7 6 



DR. E. E. HIGBEE: IN LOVING REMEMBRANCE. 



but feelings of sorrow were expressed, and 
words of sympathy and regret were heard 
upon every hand. Dr. Higbee was one 
who realized to the fullest extent the re- 
sponsibilities resting upon him. He put his 
whole energy into his work, even, I think, 
to the sacrifice of his life ; for he wrote me, 
under date of October 22, 1889, that he 
would try and be with us, yet he said his 
physician wished him to rest as much as 
possible through the fall months. Instead 
of resting as much as possible, I believe he 
went about as much as possible: so great 
was his interest in his work that he could 
not be content to remain at home. 

His whole desire seemed to be to make 
the world better for his having lived in it, 
and he so thoroughly carried out into his 
life the principles he taught that he has left 
us an example of manhood which we may 
safely follow, and to which we may always 
point with pride. — County Supt. A. G. C. 
Smith, Media, Delaware County, Pa. 



BEST INTERESTS OF THE CHILDREN. 

It was with the deepest sorrow that I 
learned of the death of Dr. E. E. Higbee, 
Superintendent of Public Instruction. In 
him the world has lost a great and noble 
heart, the State a true and patriotic son, 
and the schools a most loyal, devoted, in- 
telligent, and energetic leader. When I 
have seen him at County Institutes, and 
have listened to his stirring words to teach- 
ers and directors, I have always been deeply 
impressed with his force of character, the 
range of his intellectual attainments, the 
loftiness of his views, the intensity of his 
purpose, and the yearning of his heart for the 
best interests of the children of the State. 

The thoughts of such a master-mind as 
his ringing in the ears of his hearers, and 
his magnetic personal influence attracting 
the hearts of thousands of those who heard 
him towards higher things, cannot fail to be 
as leaven to the mass, and thus, in some de- 
gree at least, improve the moral tone and 
elevate the standard of educational require- 
ment in our Commonwealth. 

His death leaves a wide gap in the front 
ranks of our educational forces. The noble 
presence we loved so well we shall see no 
more ; we shall hear no more his inspiring 
voice cheering us onward to new and 
greater conquests; but his noble word and 
example will ever be the spur to urge us 
forward tohigher aims, and his sacred mem- 
ory will ever bring back to our hearts feel- 
ings of tenderness and affection. — Supt. 
Thomas C. Miller, Erie County, Pa. 



ALWAYS SCHOLARLY, NEVER PEDANTIC. 

Feeling personally, as I do, a measure of 
the great loss sustained in the death of our 
late honored and efficient State Superin- 
tendent of Public Instruction, Dr. E. E. 
Higbee, I desire with others to bear brief 
testimony to the many qualities of mind and 
heart, and the nobility of character that so 
endeared him to those who were permitted 
to know him and associate with him in life. 

I was first introduced to Dr. Higbee in 
1881, shortly after his appointment to the 
State Superintendency, but at that time had 
no conversation with him. Our next meet- 
ing occurred November 9, 1882. I was at 
the time a candidate for appointment to 
the superintendency of schools in Dauphin 
county, made vacant by the death of the 
late Supt. D. H. E. La Ross, and called at 
the School Department in answer to a re- 
quest for an interview on the subject. 
While he gave me no intimation by word 
or manner during our conversation that my 
application would be considered favorably, 
I was specially impressed by his kind, frank, 
honest manner. 

Located near the School Department, I 
had the opportunity of meeting him fre- 
quently and became very intimately ac- 
quainted with him. The good opinion, 
formed on the occasion referred to, of his 
scholarly attainments, honesty of purpose 
and nobility of character, was confirmed and 
strengthened as I learned to know him better. 

During the last eight years I met Dr. 
Higbee in quite a number of Teachers' In- 
stitutes in different counties of the State, 
and heard him speak on nearly every de- 
partment and phase of our educational work. 
Whether he was discussing the subject mat- 
ter of a technical science, treating the prin- 
ciples of psychology or methods of teaching, 
outlining the work of the teacher as an in- 
structor, disciplinarian, or leader of public 
sentiment, exhorting school directors in 
their duties, or inspiring the people with the 
importance and necessity of educating and 
properly training the children of our Com- 
monwealth, he invariably showed his com- 
plete mastery of the subject under consid- 
eration and his thorough acquaintance with 
all its details. 

In public address he was always scholarly 
but never pedantic. His varied attainments 
and broad culture shone out in all his 
speeches, but not through any effort on his 
part to exalt himself. He lost sight of him- 
self in the interest he felt in the theme he 
was discussing and his efforts to impress its 
truths upon his hearers. 



ATTRACTED EVERY ONE WHO KNEW HIM. 



77 



With the exception of 1882, he was 
present and addressed every annual session 
of the Dauphin county Institute from his 
appointment as State Superintendent till his 
death. Our teachers were always anxious 
to hear him because of the inspiration and 
help he gave them. At our last Institute 
many of the teachers and directors said 
they had never heard him speak better than 
on that occasion. 

If he was eloquent and forcible on the 
platform, he was charming in the social 
circle. It was a delight to listen to him on 
any subject of conversation. Though pos- 
sessed of great ability to entertain and in- 
struct, he never monopolized the conversa- 
tion, but gave courteous and interested 
attention to the humblest who took part in 
it. He thoroughly despised everything that 
savored of sycophancy, and avoided thrust- 
ing himself on officials unless business called 
him to seek them. For this reason he was 
sometimes regarded by public men as being 
cold and unsocial, but such was very far 
from being the fact. 

Only those who were on the closest and 
most intimate terms of friendship with him 
knew the many admirable and distinguish- 
ing qualities of heart and soul that he pos- 
sessed. He had the tenderest sympathy for 
all who needed encouragement, and many 
a humble toiler gathered inspiration and 
zeal from his helpful words. I recall two 
Normal School examinations in which his 
kind words and assuring manner toward a few 
nervous, excited ladies, about ready to leave 
the class, quieted their fears and helped 
them to finish their work quite creditably. 

Possessing as he did a sensitive nature and 
a high ideal of honor, the unfounded, cruel 
and malicious assaults made upon him dur- 
ing the Orphan School trouble fell with 
crushing weight. Until appointed to the 
State Superintendency, he had had no ex- 
perience in public life, and consequently had 
never before felt the sting of that noisy 
criticism which cares little for the facts, but 
which is the inevitable lot of men holding 
public office. Conscious of his innocence, 
he keenly felt the injustice of the charges 
and insinuations made against him. That 
he could be thought capable of being in any 
way, directly or indirectly, responsible for 
a wrong done to these orphans, in whom he 
felt the most compassionate interest, was so 
revolting to every instinct of his nature that 
it wounded him most deeply. But amidst it 
all, I have never seen a more perfect 
example of true Christian charity than 
was manifested by Dr. Higbee. He bore 



patiently these wilful and malicious misrep- 
resentations, and never indulged in any 
harsh denunciation of his calumniators. 

The Doctor was in feeble health during 
the whole of the last Institute season, and 
was importuned to rest, but his faithfulness 
to duty led him to sacrifice his health in his 
earnestness to advance the interests of the 
great cause that lay so near his heart. 

Truly a great and good man has fallen ! 
As an able, earnest teacher, an eloquent 
and devout minister of the Gospel, and a 
pure and faithful public official, he made 
himself felt in many of the relations of life, 
and thoroughly impressed his personality 
upon all with whom he came into contact. 
Although he has ceased to work, the forces 
and influences set in motion by his useful 
life will continue to be felt in society long 
after his mortal frame shall have been 
resolved into its native dust. — Supt. R. M. 
McNeal, Steelton, Dauphin county, Pa. 



MASTERFUL AND PERVASIVE SPIRIT. 

My acquaintance with Dr. Higbee was 
limited and almost wholly official. I met 
him on two or three occasions, and thus 
came more or less under the influence of 
that gentle, yet masterful and pervasive 
spirit which so attracted every one who 
knew him. Whenever he spoke I think he 
carried conviction full as much by the spirit 
that was in him as by his logic and elo- 
quence. He was clearly a born leader, and 
Pennsylvania is to be congratulated that he 
was called to the head of her educational 
affairs when he had added to natural endow- 
ments the rich culture, ripe experience and 
comprehensive knowledge which gave him 
such power as Superintendent of Public In- 
struction. 

I have always felt that I knew Dr. Higbee 
best through the columns of The School 
Journal. There is no writer on educational 
themes whose pen has had more attraction 
for me than his, and I shall greatly miss his 
stirring words and vigorous thoughts. 

The educational leaders of Pennsylvania 
have received a rich legacy in the work and 
influence of their late Superintendent, and 
the most worthy tribute they can pay to his 
memory will be to carry on the work upon 
which he was engaged upon the same broad 
lines upon which he conducted it so success- 
fully. In that way he will still live in 
every school district of the State, and his 
memory never fade. — Hon. T. B. Stockwell, 
Commissioner of Public Schools, Providence, 
Rhode Island. 



78 



DR. E. E. HIGBEE : IN LOVING REMEMBRANCE. 



THE CRUSADE OF SLANDER. 

My acquaintance with Doctor E. E. Hig- 
bee began with my appointment, in 1881, 
to a clerkship in the Department of Soldiers' 
Orphan Schools, and throughout all our in- 
tercourse our relations were always of the 
most cordial character. 

To know Doctor Higbee was to honor 
and admire him for his sterling qualities of 
head and heart. He was not of a demon- 
strative nature, was devoid of all ostentation 
or pretension, and it was necessary to be 
for a time intimately associated with him to 
fully appreciate his superior attainments and 
attractive manners as a man, a scholar, and 
a friend. Kind and indulgent, almost to a 
fault, generous, frank and open hearted, we 
loved and respected him for his affectionate 
consideration for the wants and comfort of 
those associated with him. Of a genial dis- 
position, no one could be in his presence 
and receive his friendly sympathetic greet- 
ings and advice without being benefited and 
encouraged. Strong intellectually as he 
was, his nature was as gentle as a child's, 
and he had a tender regard at all times for 
the feelings of others. 

As the honored head of the immediate 
Department to which only I refer, he was 
faithful and zealous. He soon became ac- 
quainted with the duties of the position, and 
familiarized himself with all the details of 
the trust committed to his care. He was 
ardent and earnest in all that would in any 
way contribute to the welfare of the " wards 
of the State," or promote the cause of the 
system in which he had a deep and warm 
interest. He never shirked duty, and will- 
ingly assumed all responsibility, and person- 
ally inspected and approved all official papers 
before final action was taken. Even when 
absent it was our rule to forward all cases 
to him for his examination and sanction. 
He never left what he considered his work 
to others. Untiring and energetic, he never 
spared himself, and, although at times ad- 
monished by friends to exercise care as to 
his health, he would not falter or hesitate 
when he thought his presence was required 
in the discharge of his labors. 

Doctor Higbee was not a politician in the 
common acceptation of the term. The prac- 
tices and methods so often relied upon to 
insure success in that field were most dis- 
tasteful to him, and utterly foreign to his 
nature. His conscience was his guide, and, 
with the courage of his convictions, his ac- 
tions were governed by its promptings. 
When the fearful storm of abuse, in connec- 
tion with the Soldiers' Orphan Schools, came 



sweeping down upon him and his Depart- 
ment, through the newspaper press, he was 
at first amazed and at a loss to understand its 
true import. He could not realize why he 
should be made the target for so much 
venom and bitterness. Confident that he had 
done nothing wrong, and having further 
convinced himself, by personal examination, 
that no glaring errors had escaped his vigil- 
ance, he was content to abide the time when 
" truth crushed to earth would rise again." 
He bravely defended his position, and stood 
"in the deadly breach" between right and 
wrong, like the heroic man he was, ready 
at all times to answer for his work, assured 
that his course in the administration of his 
trust had been just and correct, as he under- 
stood the law and the duty devolving upon 
him as a man and a public official. 

I well remember when, at the opening of 
the Legislative term following this stormy 
period, he called me into his private office 
and handed me two letters. " Take these," 
said he, "and deliver them personally to 
the respective officers of each branch of the 
Legislature. I said I would submit my case 
to that body and request an impartial and 
thorough investigation of my work." The 
letters were delivered, but no action was 
taken, much to his regret, as he courted 
the severest investigation by any proper 
authority — when fairly conducted. 

During the progress of these stirring and 
exciting events, I went to him one day and 
said to him, "Doctor, if my resignation 
will, in any way, relieve you from this ter- 
rible ordeal, or end this attack upon you and 
your office, I am prepared to give it at 
once." Rising from his chair he placed his 
hand on my shoulder in that tender way, so 
characteristic of his nature, and replied, "No, 
sir! We have done nothing wrong. Your 
promotion to the chief clerkship was right, 
and I propose to stand by it. We will go 
up or down together in this fight." Could 
man be more faithful than this hero ? It 
was such friendship and fealty as must win 
affection and command admiration. 

Throughout his trials he bore no resent- 
ment, and never sought revenge for injuries 
done him, believing that his course would be 
vindicated and his administration approved. 
Both came, as is well known; and were 
shown in his re-appointment by Governor 
Beaver, an act that met with the most 
hearty approval. It is pleasant to record 
the fact that the present Commission of Sol- 
diers' Orphan Schools, after an experience 
of over six months, and an examination of 
the work accomplished, in a series of resolu- 



HIGH IDEAL OF TEACHERS' TRAINING SCHOOL. 



79 



tions regretting his death, endorsed his ad- 
ministration in the following language: 
"We are convinced from our knowledge of 
his work that, with motives pure and con- 
science void of offence, he performed his 
duties in connection therewith." 

He was indeed very near and dear to me 
in all my work, and in his death I have sus- 
tained a great personal loss. — Mr. Joseph 
Pomeroy, Chief Clerk S. O. Commission. 

A MAN OF MARK WHEREVER HE APPEARED. 

Among the great multitude of men that 
make our Commonwealth the second in the 
sisterhood of States, there are a few in each 
of the walks and callings of life that stand 
head and shoulders above their fellows. 
Dr. Higbee was of this number. Scholarly, 
cultured and gifted, he was a man of mark 
wherever he appeared. In the higher 
grades of teaching he excelled ; in Church 
Councils he was a recognized authority; 
on the rostrum and in the pulpit where men 
were to be swayed by logic and eloquence 
he had few superiors. 

As a scholar, I admired him. 

As a man, I respected him. 

As a friend, I loved him. 

Supt. Geo. J. Luckey, Pittsburgh, Pa. 



INTEREST IN NORMAL SCHOOLS. 

Dr. Higbee succeeded, as State Superin- 
tendent, a man thoroughly conversant and 
in full sympathy with the work of the State 
Normal Schools. It would not have seemed 
strange if, at first, he had shown some lack 
of appreciation of the work and worth of 
these schools; but from the time he was 
fairly installed in office until the day of his 
death, the State Normal Schools had no 
firmer friend in the Commonwealth than he. 
True, he sometimes criticised them, but only 
that he might make them better. With his 
high and just ideal of what a teacher's train- 
ing school should be, it vexed him that so 
much non-professional work should be done 
in these schools, and he sometimes expressed 
these views in vigorous language ; but no one 
ever had reason to doubt his sympathy with 
the Normal Schools in their arduous work. 

He made two visits to the California Nor- 
mal School, once as a member of an exam- 
ining committee, and once merely to show a 
friendly interest in the school. Each time- 
his presence was an inspiration. In 1887, he 
was to preach the baccalaureate sermon for 
us, but was prevented by sickness from doing 
so. At all times he was held in high esteem 
by our trustees, faculty and students. Per- 



sonally my relations with him were of the 
most pleasant character. When called to 
my present position nearly seven years ago, 
being then as now, I believe, the youngest 
Normal School principal in the State, and 
wishing advice on questions that would have 
been perplexing enough to a more experi- 
enced man, I wrote to him. I looked for a 
reply couched in official phraseology. But 
it was not of that sort. It came straight 
from the heart, and was too generous to be 
tied up in judicial formalities. 

The Normal Schools have lost a devoted 
friend in the death of Dr. Higbee, and those 
officially connected with these schools are 
part of that host who will never forget the 
hearty greetings, the unaffected manners, 
and the eloquent and inspiring words of our 
fallen leader. — Dr. Theo. B. Noss, Princi- 
pal State Normal School, California, Pa. 



AFFABLE, SYMPATHETIC, AND KINDLY. 

I observe that the February number of 
The Pennsylvania School Journal is to be 
largely devoted to the memory of the late 
State Superintendent, Dr. E. E. Higbee, 
and that his friends throughout the State 
are invited to make contributions thereto. 
Although I live out of your State, and am 
not to be counted among his intimate 
friends, yet I venture to believe that a word 
from me will not be unwelcome. I knew 
Dr. Higbee, as one State Superintendent 
cannot help but know another in any case, 
and particularly so when they represent 
great States so closely related as Pennsylva- 
nia and New York. My first impressions of 
him were not over- favorable. Official cor- 
respondence between strangers must nec- 
essarily be somewhat stilted. We met for 
the first time at the meeting of the Depart- 
ment of Superintendence of the National 
Educational Association at Washington in 
February, 1888. Before I had ever shaken 
his hand I heard him publicly criticise one 
of our County Institutes which he had 
chanced to attend. I felt responsible for 
the thing which he held up to ridicule, and 
his words cut to the quick. None of us 
relish criticism, and I was no exception to 
the rule. But time cured the bruise. As I 
came to know him and appreciate his 
strength of mind, his frankness and freedom 
in discussion, supplemented by his intense 
devotion to all that belonged to Pennsylva- 
nia, and when I came to understand the 
radical differences which characterize the 
institute work in the two States, I was ready 
to disagree with his views concerning insti- 
tutes, and respect him for the ability and 



No 



DR. E. E. HIGBEE: IN LOVING REMEMBRANCE. 



tenacity with which he stood by his people 
and his opinions. 

I never doubted his natural ability or his 
scholarship. From the moment I first heard 
him, he left no room for such a doubt. 
But he was a far more affable, sympathetic 
and kindly man than my first impressions 
led me to suppose. In a word, I had come 
to look upon him, as I know he is generally 
regarded by the educators of the country, as 
a strong, ready, just and true man, disposed 
to be progressive, but not ready to believe 
that all change is in the line of progress. 

Within the last year I had come to under- 
stand Dr. Higbee much better, and to ap- 
preciate him much more fully. I had seen 
more of him, had read much more that he 
had written, and had been more in corres- 
pondence with him. He came to be much 
interested, I think through our mutual 
friend Mr. Amos M. Kellogg, of New York, 
in bringing about a better understanding 
between the public school authorities of the 
different States, touching the recognition of 
certificates of teachers moving from one 
State to another; and, largely at his in- 
stance, provision was made for a conference 
between State Superintendents at the ap- 
proaching meeting of the Department of Su- 
perintendence of the National Educational 
Association in New York city. Little was it 
thought that such a conference would 
assemble and he not be there. 

When it came time to prepare the pro- 
gramme for the meeting above referred to, 
it was thought well to obtain, in brief 
papers, the views of about ten of the most 
prominent and representative men in the 
country, concerning the best method of 
making the American Educational Exhibit 
at the International Exposition effective. 
The list of names was carefully chosen, and 
included two State Superintendents, of 
whom he was one. My letter inviting him 
to supply the paper was dated December 
4th, and was a formal and hastily dictated 
official communication. He replied on the 
6th, and it did not escape me, nor did it fail 
to touch me, that he addressed me, "Dear 
friend." With characteristic pointedness 
he said, " I will prepare the paper and for- 
ward to you in due time." When a week 
later I was shocked by the news of his death 
I assumed that the paper had not been pre- 
pared, and when a few days later it came to 
me, it was like a message from the other 
world. As his last written word it will cer- 
tainly be the centre of great interest in a 
circle of which he was a prominent and in- 
fluential member. 



I close this letter with the assurance of my 
profound sympathy with our educational 
friends in Pennsylvania, afflicted as they are 
by the death of Dr. Higbee. His untimely 
decease has brought to me a sense of per- 
sonal loss, and involves a loss to the cause of 
public education which is almost irrepara- 
ble. He will always be kindly and affection- 
ately remembered by his contemporaries, 
and his name will become a cherished tradi- 
tion in the educational work of your great 
State and the country. — Hon. A. S. Dra- 
per, State Superintendent, Albany, N. Y. 



MEMORIAL SERVICE AT MERCERSBURG. 

On Thursday evening, January 16th, 
services commemorative of the life and labors 
of Rev. Dr. E. E. Higbee were held in the 
Reformed Church at Mercersburg. After 
devotional services conducted by Revs. B. 
R. Carnahan and I. H. Motter, Dr. Augh- 
inbaugh read a tribute from the pen of Dr. 
Callender, his personal friend for nearly 
forty years, after which Rev. S. L. Whit- 
more delivered a eulogy in which he re- 
ferred, especially, to the relation, which Dr. 
Higbee sustained to himself, and many 
others who were present, as a teacher ; of 
his work being extended through almost 
every state and territory of this broad land, 
through his students who had gone forth 
from these halls ; of his brilliant intellect and 
warm heart ; of the great privilege he en- 
joyed in being permitted for eight years to 
sit at the feet of such a man, saying, " I 
feel that I owe more to Dr. Higbee than to 
any other man living or dead. All that I 
am, and all that I may hope ever to become, 
I owe to him." 

Rev. Dr. J. S. Kieffer followed with an 
admirable address. He spoke of Dr. Hig- 
bee's relation to himself as teacher, fellow- 
member at the Board of Regents of Mer- 
cersburg College, and as a friend. He al- 
luded to the pleasure it gives those sharing 
a common sorrow to talk over the virtues of 
a loved one gone before — one viewing him 
from this standpoint, and another from 
that. What most struck him about the in- 
tellect of Dr. Higbee was its wonderful 
quickness, eagerness and alertness. Some 
intellects are slow and plodding. Most 
men require time to grasp a truth that is 
presented, but he seemed to catch a thought 
like a flash. Another point was the intense 
way in which he lived. As was said of Rufus 
Choate, he "toiled terribly." Whatever 
his hand found to do he did with his might 
— and though his death was sad in its sud- 



THE NOBLEST HERITAGE OF ANY PEOPLE. 



8 1 



denness, was it not a fitting ending of such a 
life? Living in beneficent activity until — 
one day his work ceased a little time, and 
all was over. Was it not much more in 
harmony with a life so earnest, so full of 
action, than weeks and months of sickness 
and helplessness? If it be God's will, for 
himself he preferred such a death. The 
many-sidedness of the great intellect he was 
speaking of was one of its marvels. In 
mathematics, or metaphysics, or science, it 
was equally well-balanced, rounded, and 
complete. But after all, it was not for his 
intellectual attainments that Dr. Higbee was 
celebrated — "had he been only a great 
scholar we would not be here to-night." 
He was not only wise but kind. After wis- 
dom and knowledge and all things vanish 
away, what shall endure but love? — and to 
that element of his character we pay the 
highest tribute. 

Rev. Dr. Aughinbaugh then read one of 
Dr. Higbee's hymns, "Thy glory Thou 
didst manifest." after the singing of which 
he gave an opportunity for volunteer ad- 
dresses. 

Judge Stewart arose and paid a glowing 
tribute to Dr. Higbee, whom he admired for 
his many brilliant qualities of mind and 
heart, and from whom he had received more 
valuable information on all great subjects of 
human thought and speculation than from 
any other man that he ever knew. While 
he lived he was not appreciated — the com- 
mon lot of mortals! He did not suppose 
Mercersburg appreciated him ; he knew 
Franklin county and the State did not — that 
when here his reputation was greatly circum- 
scribed — that when he recommended him to 
Governor Hoyt for that position, the Gov- 
ernor had never heard of Dr. Higbee, but 
that he told him afterwards he did not think 
he could have found another man throughout 
the whole Commonwealth so well suited for 
the position. He was glad that he had been 
instrumental in having Dr. Higbee appointed 
Superintendent of Public Instruction for the 
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. No better 
man had ever occupied that position in this 
or any other State, and the common school 
system throughout the land would in all 
time reap great benefits from the labors of 
Dr. Higbee. Yet, after all, it seemed to him 
that as a preacher of the Gospel he found 
his highest calling and was most successful. 
He regarded him the most interesting 
preacher he had ever heard, and he knew no 
other man his equal in scholastic attain- 
ments. He knew too, that it was the pur- 
pose of Dr. Higbee to return to the work j 



of the gospel ministry — the highest vocation 
that any man can occupy in this world. 

Rev. Cyrus Cort said, in his remarks, 
that Dr. Higbee and himself had been 
thrown together a great deal at the begin- 
ning of his ministerial career. He was 
President pro tern, of the Classis, and chair- 
man of the committee that ordained Rev. 
Mr. Cort, as missionary pastor at Altoona, 
in 1862. Before long the mission was 
transferred to Mercersburg Classis, and Dr. 
Higbee was appointed Professor in the The- 
ological Seminary at Mercersburg. For 
some three years they were associated to- 
gether, along with Drs. Henry Harbaugh, 
Thos. G. Apple, P. S. Davis, and others, as 
charter members of the Board of Regents of 
Mercersburg College. It was an inspiration 
and benediction for him to be thrown so- 
cially and officially into the company of such 
men in the very beginning of his ministry, 
and the people of Mercersburg ought to 
cherish with grateful reverence the memory 
of the great and good man who walked 
amid these classic shades in times past. Il- 
lustrious men are the noblest heritage of 
any people. Vermont, the native State of 
Dr. Higbee, had, like ancient Sparta, been 
prolific in producing strong men rather than 
bountiful crops of fruits or cereals. He was 
glad in his recent visit to Boston to see so 
many enduring memorials, statues in bronze 
and marble, erected in every part of the 
Athens of America, to perpetuate the mem- 
ory of the heroes, benefactors and statesmen 
of former days. It was a good sign ; and 
for his part he had always felt it to be a re- 
ligious and patriotic duty to do all in his 
power to honor the memory of worthy men. 
He endorsed all that Dr. Kieffer had said of 
the many-sided character of Dr. Higbee's 
mind. It was truly of the mould of Shake- 
speare, Gcethe, Leibnitz, etc., a universal 
genius, and, best of all, it was ready to bow 
at the foot of the Cross and lay upon the 
altar of the gospel all its great endowments 
and attainments. Of illustrious men we 
may say with Pericles in his eulogy over the 
patriot heroes who fell at Marathon, and as 
amplified by Edward Everett at the dedica- 
tion of the Gettysburg national cemetery, 
" The whole earth is their sepulchre and all 
time the millennium of their glory." 

Rev. Mr. Carnahan spoke of the kind 
reception he met from Dr. Higbee upon 
coming to Mercersburg twenty-one years 
ago, a little orphan boy ; of his kindness 
through his school years, and of his im- 
pressive baccalaureate address to the class 
of '74. With the Lord's prayer, doxology 



82 



DR. E. E. HIGBEE: IN LOVING REMEMBRANCE. 



and benediction, the services closed. A 
number of persons came by special train 
from Chambersburg to attend this memorial 
service in honor of a departed friend. 



AS FALLS THE MIGHTY OAK. 

I am glad that an opportunity is given 
those connected with the educational inter- 
ests of the State to express those feelings 
and reminiscences that are awakened by the 
death of this good man. There are many 
who can, from their long and intimate asso- 
ciation with the deceased, speak with elo- 
quent fervency of his goodness, his high en- 
dowments, and his noble virtues; hence it 
should be the purpose of those in the wider 
circles to contribute to his memorial only 
such impressions and influences as came by 
personal contact. 

1 saw him for the first time at the Central 
State Normal School in 18S1. Being at that 
time a member of the graduating class, I 
shared with my associates some prejudice 
against the newly-appointed State Superin- 
tendent, of whom it was said : " He's a col- 
lege man," " He will expect us to pass a 
college examination," "He's not in sym- 
pathy with the Normal Schools," " He has 
never been connected with the Common 
Schools." He came — and when we looked 
upon his kindly face it stole in upon us that 
these things might not be true ; and when 
the examination was over we knew they 
were false. From this time forward it was 
my pleasure to meet him, with greater or 
less frequency, at examinations, commence- 
ments, institutes, and in his office. I always 
thought he showed for me something akin 
to the solicitude of a father, and I carried 
with me its counterpart towards him of filial 
regard and obedience. 

In the spring of 18S5 he came to Liver- 
pool to attend a high school commence- 
ment. It gladdened the hearts of the towns- 
people to have the honor of his presenee, 
and the stirring address he gave them was an 
incentive of incalculable value to their 
future educational efforts. He enjoyed the 
enthusiasm and hospitality of the people, 
who insisted that he should remain until 
morning ; for the river was swollen to an 
extraordinary degree, while the night was 
black and tempestuous. However, he could 
not be restrained from going. So in charge* 
of a trusty ferryman we were safely landed 
on the Dauphin side. 

I learned incidentally that the Doctor was 
fond of gun and rod, and suggested in one 
of my letters that he come to Perry county 



for a little recreation, whereupon I received 
the following reply, which to me at least is 
of great interest : 

Beaver Dam, Wis., August 15, 1889. 

SUPT. E. U. AUM1LLER: 

Dear Friend : Your very kind invitation to your 
Institute and hunting grounds has just reached me. I 
hope I may be able to come. I can make no engage- 
ments, however. I am here gaining some strength for 
my work, and if I find myself in good condition, I 
shad try to do some Institute work during the winter. 

Nothing would please me more than a royal good 
hunt, but I must be better than I am now to attempt 
it. Thanking you for your kind invitation, and your 
recognition of me as a follower of old Nimrod, I 
remain, Yours truly, 

E. E. Higbee. 

I received many letters from him even 
more familiar in their tone, and submit this 
one to show a side of his life — his love of 
nature as the sportsman feels it — that may 
not be so generally known. But as he ap- 
peared to me there were many sides to his 
character, and they were all good. There 
was something in him that brought to the 
surface the best thought and feeling of those 
who formed his acquaintance. It took so 
short a time to know and love him, and yet 
there was so much un fathomed goodness left ! 

While we all take pleasure in paying our 
weak tribute to the pure and lofty virtues of 
the illustrious dead, we must at the same 
time be conscious that these kindly offices, 
words of praise, and expressions of sorrow, 
are all too late to warm and cheer the life 
of our departed friend. He died in the 
highest period of his usefulness, as falls the 
mighty oak in the forest. His life will fur- 
nish the texts for a hundred sermons. He 
was a paragon for the student, the scholar, 
the philosopher, and the Christian. Let us 
emulate his virtues. — Supt. E. U. Aumiller, 
New Bloomfield, Perry County, Pa. 

MADE BETTER BY THIS MAN'S WORD. 

It affords me a melancholy pleasure to 
add my small tribute to the memory of one 
of earth's greatest men. 

Dr. Higbee was the most God-like man I 
have ever known. I have heard him as he 
has unfolded before his congregation the 
beautiful promises of God's eternal love, 
and it has seemed to me that I sat within the 
divine presence. I have listened to him as 
he expounded the great truths of nature and 
of mind, both from the platform and in the 
social circle, and have known that I was be- 
fore one whose great mind was at home in 
that higher, purer sphere, where the reason 
perceives truth unfettered by doubt or error. 
There have lived but few such men. God 



INFLUENCE IN THE CHAPEL OF THE COLLEGE. 



83 



does not often bestow upon one of his 
creatures so many of His attributes. But 
how well were these talents loaned ! There 
is not an earnest teacher in this broad state, 
who has not felt the power of Dr. Higbee's 
magnetic intellect and of his high moral 
purpose, and who will not say, " I have been 
made better by listening to this man's word. ' ' 
We have lost a great teacher; we have 
lost a warm friend ; but the schools of the 
Commonwealth will be better for all time 
to come because this noble teacher has 
lived. The purity of his motive, the sin- 
cerity of his friendship, the influence of his 
Christian example, should bring us all closer 
to God. — Supt. C. B. Miller, Nanticokc, Pa. 



PERENNIAL SPRING OF HUMANITY. 

The memorial year 1889 died not ere the 
light of a true, great son of Pennsylvania 
was extinguished, and the empty lamp of an 
honored official set in a goodly niche, as a 
token of work well done. 

Dr. Higbee was a man who brought into 
combined expression, and applied with rare 
skill, a wide array of trained ability. He 
was excellent in the home, the school, the 
social circle ; in the pulpit and in the chair 
of the highest educational office in the 
State. He was one whose scholarly life 
was harmoized to practical work. All his 
energies were harnessed to the obligations 
of the tasks which the Commonwealth de- 
manded of him. He was a warm man. 
It seemed to be perpetual summer in his in- 
most being. What he undertook he exe- 
cuted, because he believed it to be right. 
He always spoke from conviction, and the 
tone of his voice and the magnetic expres- 
sion of his noble face made it conclusive 
that there was not only a vast reserve of 
erudition in the talented mind of this ven- 
erable man, but also a perennial spring of 
humanity sympathetically pulsating through 
his heart. 

He seemed like one of the skilled of an- 
cient Egypt or Judah, a student both of the 
book of Nature and of that of the Word — a 
true priest of the Lord ; going before his fel- 
low-men with unsullied garments, in the 
paths of religion and Christianity, not to 
challenge attention to himself, but only to 
show that the path of devotion to the Mas- 
ter is the only wise and safe one to follow. 

Religion was the key-note upon which 
he based all his versatile play of beautiful 
thought. True character was the aim of 
this great educator. True philosophy was 
to him the right Theosophy. And all that 
was real and beautiful in man, in the realm 



of man's world, Nature, and in God's holy 
Word, had value to him and was loved, im- 
itated, and spoken of by him to all those 
who looked to him as a guide. 

He was a true, safe leader, and only 
when the time for resting and awaiting re- 
ward and exaltation came, was it discovered 
how great an influence for good his work 
exerted. Though the light of his star is no 
longer shining, its reflection, caught in the 
retinae of many memories, will stand ever 
un forgotten, just as it has been photo- 
graphed upon the tablet of the constella- 
tions of Pennsylvania's history. — Rev. C. 
Elvin Haupt, Pastor Grace Evangelical 
Lutheran Church, Lancaster, Pa. 



SOME PERSONAL REMINISCENCES. 

In looking over the years of my acquain- 
tance with Rev. E. E. Higbee, D. D., I can 
remember nothing like the usual gradual 
ripening of acquaintance into friendship. I 
first met Dr. Higbee at Mercersburg, after 
he had entered upon the duty of Professor 
of Church History in the Theological Sem- 
inary of the Reformed Church. I was at- 
tracted by his frank and cordial manner ; his 
countenance seemed to me expressive of a 
nature in which I might confide, and from 
that time I was his friend. As the years 
passed, I met him more and more fre- 
quently ; and after he had accepted the 
presidency of Mercersburg College our as- 
sociation was rendered more intimate by 
our common interest in the success of his 
favorite work — the work through which his 
genius wrought best for the church of his 
adoption. 

Through his labors there, a number of 
ministers — nearly thirty — were added to the 
active service of the Reformed Church. 
These men were, in most instances, induced 
to give up their lives to that service through 
Dr. Higbee's personal influence. In large 
measure they imbibed his energetic spirit ; 
they loved and imitated his pure devotion ; 
and now they revere his memory. He held 
himself in close fellowship with his students, 
and, while he insisted upon thorough work 
in the class-room, he enjoyed their sports, 
and encouraged them by joining in them 
with ardor. In the chapel of the College 
he exerted a powerful influence. The Col- 
lege was a congregation, and he was its pas- 
tor ; and many of his old college boys, now 
earnest Christian men, have told me of the 
moulding power for good which Dr. Higbee 
had been to them in the chapel services. 

But the Church neglecting her oppor- 
tunity in this special field, the State, through 



DR. E. E. HI G BEE: IN LOVING REMEMBRANCE. 



her scholarly and broad-minded Governor, 
Henry M. Hoyt, offered Dr. Higbee the 
position of Superintendent of Public In- 
struction of Pennsylvania. His friends urged 
him to accept the appointment, and in April, 
1 88 1, he entered upon a wider field of use- 
fulness in the Department of Education, in 
which he' labored with distinguished success 
to the day of his death. 

Dr. Higbee was a sufferer from the hay- 
fever "pest," as he called it, and for years 
the 14th day of August was looked forward 
to with dread. He often suffered intense 
pain, his whole body feeling the effect of the 
torture ; medicines failed, and the only re- 
lief was in flight to some point where the 
disease was unknown. I was with him on 
several occasions. Once — I remember it 
well — I was telegraphed to bring to Mer- 
cersburg Dr. Samuel G. Lane, a warm per- 
sonal friend of his, now v/ith him on "the 
other side." I immediately obeyed, and, 
after a seven teen- mile drive, found Dr. 
Higbee suffering very much. After Dr. 
Lane had examined his case, it was decided 
that I was to meet Dr. H. at Chambersburg 
in the morning, and go with him to Cape 
May. All ready for the journey, I met him 
at the train ; but what was my surprise to 
hear him say, " Not to the sea, but to Oak- 
land in the Allegheny Mountains." That 
afternoon we left for Weaverton, Maryland, 
and at 11 p. m. of the same day reached 
Oakland, a station on the top of the moun- 
tain. It was about the 15th of August, and 
as we stepped from the car he remarked, 
"I am much better; this is the haven." 
After a good night's rest, the Doctor feeling 
still better, we went down to breakfast. We 
had been but a few minutes at the table, 
when three unmistakable sneezes echoed 
through the breakfast-room. Without rais- 
ing his head, the Doctor touched my elbow, 
and said, " Poor fellows! they are bitten by 
the 'pest!' We shall soon hear more." 
And his words were verified. 

It was here that I first learned to know 
that he was a botanist. We had often dis- 
cussed roses and other garden flowers ; but 
here, two thousand feet above tide-water, 
we roamed the hills, and he taught me how 
to enjoy Nature, affording me new percep- 
tions of beauty by his reflections on the de- 
velopment of plant-life, and his observation 
and enjoyment of its charming shades of 
color. There, by the way, we found the 
yellow-blossomed "rag-weed," to whose 
flowering the "hay- fever" poison is often 
attributed, and which grows rank in the 
valleys, not unfrequently three feet or more 



in height, but here on these elevated slopes 
diminished to a tiny, harmless plant. We 
remained here until the frosts had fallen 
over the valleys. 

At another season we visited Deer Park, 
then just opened as a summer resort. Here, 
I remember, we found an orchestra from 
Baltimore, which had furnished music at 
Commencement times at Mercersburg Col- 
lege. They were all Germans, and Dr. 
Higbee was well acquainted with the leader. 
How the musician rejoiced when he found 
that the Doctor understood music, and was 
familiar with the German composers ! What 
entertainments we had of classic music, often 
at meal-times, or during the mornings. 
Here also, as at Oakland, we botanized over 
the mountains, always returning to our hotel 
with a variety of rare wild flowers, and 
plenty of them. During one of his vaca- 
tions, I went with him to Beaver Dam, Wis- 
consin, to visit his sister and brother. There 
we had excellent fishing; and, what was bet- 
ter, enjoyed our rest in the hospitality of a 
family whose every word spoke the tender 
regard they felt for their distinguished 
brother. 

The last pleasure trip that I took with 

him was in company with Dominie D , 

a jolly, good-natured man, with a heart at- 
tuned to generous feelings, and a keen sym- 
pathy for those in suffering. Dominie 

D was a man of culture and a scholar, 

with a "weather-eye" always open to the 
ludicrous. Well, we left home on the 9th 
day of August, 18 — , for a trip to the Green 
Mountains, and full of delightful anticipa- 
tions, which were happily not destined to 
be disappointed. Up the Hudson by a 
day-steamer, " botanizing humanity," as we 
found it scattered over the deck of the 
steamer and through the cabins. We en- 
joyed the comparison of notes — in which 
the writer always used mongrel Pennsylvania 
German. 

After a rest at Albany, at the Delavan 
House, morning found us pursuing our way 
on a lake steamer, across the broad waters 
of Lake Champlain. I can remember the 
boyish glee with which Dr. Higbee showed 
us the many points of interest on our way ; 
Fort Ticonderoga with its fallen battle- 
ments, and other places of historic fame. 
He seemed to receive a new impulse as he 
neared the scenes of his boyhood ; his two 
Germa?i companions often interrupting him 
with " I say /" " Du tell/" until the passen- 
gers might have taken us for boys just home 
for a vacation. How well I remember his 
exultation as we steamed up Burlington Bay, 



READING OF SHAKESPEARE'S PLAYS. 



85 



and the spires of the city and the University 
buildings became visible. Dr. Higbee as- 
sumed entire charge of us at this point; and 
ordering our luggage to a hotel, we took a 
carriage for a drive. He had attended the 
University of Vermont in Burlington, and 
graduated with honor in 1849. He was, of 
course, familiar with the city, and played 
the host in the most gleeful manner. Our 
drive ended on the University Hill. The 
sun was fast declining, and looking toward 
the west, he turned to us, saying, "Boys, 
we are going to have a rare sunset !" and so 
we had. Before us was that beautiful bay, 
with the Adirondacks as a western wall, be- 
hind which the sun was just disappearing, 
his golden rays falling upon the wide ex- 
panse of water. 

"Now look," he said; and there arose, 
apparently out of the bay, a column of re- 
flected light, seemingly about eight feet 
wide, and ascending full forty feet, — a per- 
fect image of a column of fire. We gazed 
on the wondrous sight, until the enchant- 
ment slowly vanished into the gathering 
darkness. "Such scenes," remarked Dr. 
Higbee, " you do not have in dear old 
Mercersburg; but the sunsets there are often 
more charming to me." 

On the following morning, we continued 
our journey along the Onion River to 
Waterbury, and thence by the old six-horse 
Concord coach, we taking the box seats, to 
Stow's, at the foot of the Green Moun- 
tains. A night on the top of Mt. Mansfield 
was spent in hearing legends of the moun- 
tains, Dr. Higbee taking a full share in their 
narration, and astonishing the host of the 
Summit House by his intimate acquaint- 
ance with the history of the region. After 
refreshing rest, and a hearty breakfast, we 
started in a two-horse wagon for the return 
trip. That trip almost cost us our lives. 
The locking chain of the wagon caught 
upon a root, and upset the wagon and the 

party. Dominie D fell not twenty 

inches from a chasm three hundred feet deep. 
He was so severely stunned as to cause us 
the greatest alarm, while Dr. Higbee was 
fastened in among the seats. However, the 
Dominie revived, and a very subdued, but 
truly thankful party arrived at Stow's. I 
mention this incident particularly, because 
it served to call forth the Doctor's kindly, 
sympathetic nature ; for, although himself 
badly bruised, he seemed entirely to forget 
his own discomfort in anxiety for our friend. 
Returning from Stow's by way of White 
River, we reached Boston, and thence 
home by a Sound steamer. Such excursions 



afforded me ample opportunities for testing 
the Doctor's social qualities ; I always 
found him companionable and confiding, 
full of anecdote, and betraying in his con- 
versation a remarkable familiarity with 
English poetry. 

Dr. Higbee took great delight in a small 
literary society or club, which, when he 
lived at Mercersburg, used sometimes to 
meet at his house, but most frequently at 
the parsonage of the First Reformed 
Church in Chambersburg, the home of Rev. 
P. S. Davis, himself a member of the club. 
Other members were Hon. John Stewart, 
Hon. D. Watson Rowe, Dr. Samuel G. 
Lane, and Hon. A. Brady Sharpe, of Car- 
lisle. At the meetings of this club, Dr. H. 
was particularly happy in the reading of 
Shakespeare's plays. I well remember his 
reading " King Lear" on one such occa- 
sion, lecturing on the play as he read, to the 
delight of the company. At another meet- 
ing he read "Hamlet." All were not only 
charmed, but instructed bvhis keen percep- 
tion of the points of the drama, his insight 
of its characters, and his grasp of its under- 
lying thoughts. The memory of those in- 
tellectual entertainments will be an abiding 
pleasure to the survivors of that club. 

To me it is a heartfelt pleasure that I en- 
joyed his companionship to the end of his 
earthly life ; that I was with him during the 
time of his trials, his persecutions, and his 
victory ; that I am permitted to pay this 
humble tribute to the memory of the man 
whom I so dearly loved. — Mr. J. Heyser, 
Department of Public Instruction. 



BENEFIT TO THE SCHOOL SYSTEM. 

It affords me extreme pleasure to testify 
that in my business and social relations with 
the late Dr. Higbee, he was always the pro- 
found scholar, the true gentleman, and a 
most sincerely esteemed friend. While en- 
gaged in even casual conversation, he 
seemed to lose no opportunity of presenting 
the broadest educational principles. He 
taught that the care of our schools is the 
first and chief duty of the government. 

His manner of treating any subject under 
discussion was so convincing that his most 
critical audiences could see how fully con- 
versant he was with every detail of school- 
room duties, and that the eloquent appeals 
he made* to teachers, directors and parents, 
adjuring them to carefully foster and pro- 
mote the moral, social and intellectual wel- 
fare of the children intrusted to their care, 
came from a kind and sympathetic heart. 



86 



DR. E. E. HIGBEE: IN LOVING REMEMBRANCE. 



While his death leaves a vacancy that is 
most difficult to fill, his life leaves, for all 
true teachers, a model most worthy of imi- 
tation. 

Having learned from practical experience 
that the best talent always seeks those pro- 
fessions which pay the best wages and in 
which the tenure of office is most certain 
and permanent, and seeing that the profes- 
sion of teaching was annually losing many 
of its best members, who were making it 
merely a stepping-stone to some other calling 
more lucrative and secure, he set himself to 
improve this condition of things. Hence 
his strong advocacy of better wages for 
teachers, which had, no doubt, its influence 
in inducing the Legislature to double the 
former State appropriation. The insecurity 
of the profession was partially met by a 
further act of Assembly empowering School 
Boards to elect certain successful teachers 
for three years. 

He was also deeply interested in the sub- 
ject of Closer Supervision of Schools, recog- 
nizing in this the most effective agency by 
which the young and inexperienced teacher 
might be lifted to a level with his associates 
under the direct instruction and watchful 
eye of a skilled division superintendent, 
head-master, or inspector. Dr. Higbee 
labored hard to strengthen this very weak 
place in our School Supervision. The bill 
which he had framed to remedy this defect, 
failed to become a law during the last two 
sessions of the Legislature. It is to be hoped 
that it may be passed by the next Legislature 
as a deserved tribute to the memory of him 
by whom it was originally drafted. This 
new feature of Close Supervison would result 
in such increased efficiency of the school 
system of this Commonwealth as would 
prove the noblest monument that can be 
erected to the practical wisdom of Dr. 
Higbee. 

At a local Institute held in Nanticoke two 
years ago, among other things the Doctor 
said : " Though we can't understand the 
Hungarians and other foreigners who have 
recently come here to make their home with 
us, our little boys and their little boys, run- 
ning together by the brook and the hillside, 
enjoying their various childish games and 
pastimes, will read the same lessons in the 
book of Nature and in the school-book. 
They will understand each other fully. 
Hence it is our sacred duty to so' educate 
and train them that the liberties of this 
Commonwealth and Nation may rest safe in 
their hands when we have been numbered 
among the elect." 



When I first became personally acquainted 
with Dr. Higbee, the following instance of 
his parental affection made a deep and favor- 
able impression upon me : The teachers of 
Schuylkill county met in Institute at Shen- 
andoah in 1885. The Doctor was present, 
and after addressing the County Directors' 
Association, which convened on Thursday 
of the same week, he was on his way back to 
the Opera House, where the Institute was in 
session, when, by instruction from Supt. 
Weiss, I informed him that he would not be 
wanted at the Institute for about an hour. 
He immediately replied: "That suits me 
exactly. I want to visit some of the stores 
here and see if I can get a Christmas present 
for my little boy. I always get him some- 
thing in remembrance of this great festival. 
Now is my only chance. * I go right home 
after this Institute." And away he went to 
make the purchase. Often since then have 
I recalled the incident, and the more I 
recall it, after having listened to so many of 
his instructive lectures, the more I think that 
his life was fashioned after that of the Great 
Teacher, the anniversary of whose birth was 
then approaching, who said, " Suffer little 
children, and forbid them not, to come unto 
me ; for of such is the kingdom of Heaven." 
— Supt. David B. Gildea, Plymouth Town- 
ship, Luzerne County, Pa. 



SCHOOL BOARD OF LANCASTER. 

A special meeting of the School Board of 
the city of Lancaster was held on Saturday 
evening, December 14, to take action upon 
the death of the State Superintendent of 
Public Instruction. The President, Dr. D. 
R. McCormick, stated that they had met to 
take suitable action upon the death of Dr. 
E. E. Higbee, one of our own citizens, who 
had done much to advance the interests of 
public education in Pennsylvania. 

Mr. Win, McComsey, Chairman of the 
Executive Committee, said the Board had 
been peculiarly fortunate in the selection of 
teachers for the Boys' High School, and 
that three men among them had become 
distinguished in their respective lines of 
effort. One whom some of the older mem- 
bers recalled was Col. Kersey Coates, who 
died a year or more ago, one of the wealth- 
iest and most eminent citizens of Kansas 
City, Missouri. He had been largely in- 
strumental in laying the foundation of the 
future growth of that city. Another was 
Rev. J. S. Crumbaugh, a man beloved and 
honored for his great abilities and character 
by all who knew him. The last was Rev. 



HIS QUALIFICATIONS AS A TEACHER WERE SUPERB. 



87 



Dr. E. E. Higbee, whose death we now 
mourn. His death came somewhat like a 
thunderbolt from a sunlit sky; sudden, un- 
expected and startling, carrying not only 
surprise, but wide spread sorrow and deep 
regret. Always able, eloquent and earnest, 
always entertaining and instructive, how 
often have I listened to his eloquent voice 
in the school, the college and the institute, 
as well as in the pulpit. In educational 
affairs he was known and honored through- 
out the land as a leader ; in theological, 
religious and literary circles he was looked 
upon as a shining light. When such a man 
dies, it is a public loss indeed. Having in 
view these facts, and Dr. Higbee having 
once been an honored teacher in the employ 
of this Board, a distinguished citizen and 
head of the State Department of Public In 
struction, the speaker moved that a com 
mittee of five be appointed, of whom Dr. J 
P. Wickersham, Ex-State Superintendent 
and the predecessor in office of Dr. Higbee 
should be chairman, to prepare a suitable 
expression of the feelings of the Board. 

President McCormick appointed Dr. 
Wickersham, and Messrs. McComsey, War- 
fel, Hegener, and Marshall, as the commit- 
tee, who, after a brief absence, reported the 
following tribute of respect to be entered 
upon the Minutes of the Board : 

" Dr. E. E. Higbee was at one time a 
teacher in our schools. Prior to his death 
he for several years resided in our city, tak- 
ing an active part in its social, educational 
and literary circles, and in the discharge of 
the duties of the office of Superintendent of 
Public Instruction he has on several occa- 
sions signally favored this community ; 
therefore, it seems especially fitting that this 
Board should join in an expression of sor- 
row on account of his death, and place on 
record a proper tribute to his memory. 

"This Board honored Dr. Higbee as a 
scholar. His learning was general and pro- 
found. He was equally well versed in the 
departments of Languages, Mathematics, 
Philosophy, Literature, Art and Theology. 
His mind was not only capable of ranging 
over a great surface, but of penetrating deep 
beneath the surface. 

"We honored him also as an instructor 
of youth. Nearly forty years ago he taught 
in our High School, and his thorough knowl- 
edge of the subjects of instruction, his happy 
methods of teaching, and his genial manners 
in the school room, are still remembered 
among us. 

" As Superintendent of Public Instruction 
for the past eight years, this Board has ap- 



preciated the ability and faithfulness with 
which he has discharged the duties of his 
high trust, and in common with the school 
authorities of the whole Commonwealth, is 
glad to bear tribute to his self exhausting 
labor in behalf of the cause of popular edu- 
cation. 

" We knew and honored Dr. Higbee as a 
man, as a neighbor, and as a citizen. He 
was a gentleman, a patriot, and a Christian. 
His life was pure and his character spotless. 
He has left here, and everywhere through- 
out the State, hosts of devoted friends. 
Among those who knew him well he could 
have no enemies. As a mark of respect we 
offer this tribute to his memory, and resolve 
to attend his funeral in a body, and we also 
respectfully present the following resolution : 

"Resolved, That all the schools of the city 
under the control of this Board be closed on 
Monday, to afford teachers and pupils an 
opportunity of attending the funeral." 



CLOSER SUPERVISION OF SCHOOLS. 

Dr. Higbee's mind was full-orbed and 
luminous like the sun, pouring light, intel- 
lectual and spiritual light, with fervid en- 
thusiasm upon every educational topic that 
came up for consideration. His fullness ot 
learning was so comprehensive and profound 
as to leave no room for anything empirical 
or eccentric. As a teacher, and a teacher 
of teachers, his qualifications were superb. 
His untimely death is a heavy loss that can- 
not but be felt and deeply mourned through- 
out the Commonwealth. 

When he was placed in charge of the 
general administration of our Common 
School System, with little previous know- 
ledge of its organization and history, he 
was somewhat nonplussed at first to learn 
that it had not been modeled on the tra- 
ditional New England plan, with which he 
was familiar; and that the school life which 
he justly considered so vitally important, 
and in which he soon became so deeply in- 
terested, was intimately connected with and 
largely dependent for its healthful develop- 
ment upon the organic structure in which 
it was enshrined. With his singular apti- 
tude for quickly grasping the scope and pur- 
port of any new subject with which his 
mind came in contact, he was not very long 
in learning to comprehend and appreciate 
the merits of our Common School organiza- 
tion, and the value and availability of its 
different features for their intended purposes, 
and his estimate of them was very high. 
He soon recognized the compact strength of 



DR. E. E. HIGBEE: IN LOVING REMEMBRANCE. 



the system and its wonderful flexibility when 
applied to so many diversified local circum- 
stances. In the very last interview which 
the writer had with him, he spoke of this in 
warm terms of appreciation, and wondered 
if the men who framed it really knew at the 
time how well they had done their work. 

He was one of the few teachers with 
whom we have come in contact, who seemed 
to fully and clearly comprehend the broad 
scope and detailed applicability of our 
school laws, as well as the professional work 
belonging to the narrow confines of the 
school room. So far as our observation 
goes, most teachers clearly see and keenly 
appreciate the latter, while their range of 
mental vision does not always take in the 
former. Hence the frequent desire and 
demand for change in details without clearly 
seeing the governing principle to be affected 
by them, and there is often unwisdom as 
well as unrest in projected modifications. 
Dr. Higbee's clear-sighted vision never 
misled his judgment. All qualifying cir- 
cumstances and conditions were taken into 
consideration, and thus sound conclusions 
were always reached. In studying the or- 
ganized supervision of the schools, he was 
not long in discovering what the friends of 
education had long known, that there was 
a missing link in the chain of supervision 
between the County Superintendent and the 
School Boards and the schools under their 
charge. As, prior to the act of 1854, there 
was a gap between the School Department 
and the School Boards that was filled by 
the law of that year by the creation of the 
county superintendency, so in getting 
down closer and closer to the schools, 
which has always been desirable, the in- 
troduction of an intermediate agency was 
obviously the right policy and was becom- 
ing every year more and more of a neces- 
sity in our school work. 

Dr. Higbee undertook to provide for it 
by a symmetrical device of his own that had 
not before been suggested. At one of the 
biennial sessions of the Legislature he drew 
up and submitted a bill providing for cir- 
cuit superintendents, in which the school 
districts in the respective counties were 
grouped into convenient and as near as 
might be equal circuits, for economy of ex- 
penditure and convenience of administra- 
tion. The bill was skillfully drawn and the 
plan was absolutely perfect in theory; but 
as it required the joint action of so many 
different corporate bodies not accustomed 
to work together in anything like organic 
union, it did not meet with favorable con- 



sideration in the Legislature, and took its 
place in history as a tentative but unsuccess- 
ful effort in the right direction. At a sub- 
sequent meeting of the Legislature he pre- 
pared a simpler bill providing for District 
Superintendents, confining them mainly to 
the individual district, but leaving the door 
open for two or more contiguous districts 
to unite at their own option in the election 
and pa>ment of that officer. This bill, after 
being somewhat modified in title and text 
by the Chester County Directors' Associa- 
tion, was introduced in the House, but the 
session came to a close without its being 
acted upon. In this bill — which is found in 
the issue for June, 1890, of the Pennsyl- 
vania School Journal, (page 465) and which 
we trust may be enacted promptly into law by 
the next Legislature — it will be seen that the 
adaptation of means to ends it is as nearly 
perfect as sound judgment and accurate 
expression can make it. — Hon. H. C. 
Hickok, Ex-State Superintendent of Public 
Instruction, Philadelphia, Pa. 



HEART AND HEAD AND HAND. 

The common schools of Pennsylvania 
suffered an irreparable loss when Dr. E. E. 
Higbee, Superintendent of Public Instruc- 
tion, was stricken down with paralysis and 
soon after passed peacefully away. In his 
death not only did the schools lose an able 
Superintendent and the Commonwealth an 
efficient officer, but the State one of her 
foremost scholars. Intellectually, Dr. Hig- 
bee was a giant, and combined with this 
intellect was a character unimpeachable and 
irreproachable. In him was found, what is 
rarely combined in one man, a superior 
knowledge of the mathematics, the sciences, 
and the classics. In all departments of 
learning he was schooled ; perhaps no man 
had a more profound mental grasp, nor any 
greater diversity of knowledge. He loved 
music and art as well as literature, and in 
these directions was a competent critic ; as 
an extensive reader, he was acquainted with 
the best works of the best authors ; and as a 
clergyman, he ranked in the estimation of 
many with the foremost in the land. Be- 
sides intellectual culture he believed in 
physical, and, when in college, it is told 
that he could kick the football highest, 
throw the baseball farthest, wrestle the 
longest, and run the fleetest. Nature was to 
him a great school ; he loved the streams 
and woods ; their music found responsive 
echo in his heart ; and to his keen observa- 
tion she unfolded many of her deep secrets. 



NOBILITY AND PURITY OF HIS CHARACTER. 



Dr. Higbee, although a native of the 
State of Vermont, became early in life iden- 
tified with the interests of Pennsylvania ; 
and than himself she had probably no more 
loyal son. " Teach the children," said he, 
" that they are Pennsylvanians, with all 
that the word implies. Point them to their 
rugged, hardy, and God-fearing ancestry, 
who out of an unbroken wilderness carved 
a commonwealth second to none in point 
of Christian culture, educational facilities, 
and natural wealth." He used to point 
with pride and at the same time with re- 
gret to some of Pennsylvania's ablest teach- 
ers who are occupying positions of high 
grade in New England, in the South, and 
in the distant West, and deplored the fact 
that with all our wealth and resources, the 
citizens of this State should allow so many 
of their best teachers to be attracted else- 
where by better salaries and more generous 
appreciation. As Superintendent of Schools 
he brought all the powers of his great in- 
tellect to bear upon his work ; and his 
appointment three successive times by three 
different Governors shows the true value of 
that work. Honest, courageous, God-fear- 
ing, earnest to an intense degree, he carried 
into his work these elements, fulfilling the 
expectations of his friends, and challenging 
the admiration of all intelligent men. 

I think I may be pardoned some feeling 
of pride in the matter when I say that Dr. 
Higbee seemed to have an especial interest 
in our county, and that we were especially 
interested in him. His appearance before 
our Institutes had the effect of arousing in 
our teachers a greater enthusiasm and a 
deeper interest in the cause of education. 
His idea ot education was such as com- 
manded attention from every man. He 
hated mere mechanical routine in teaching. 
He believed teaching to be a virtue, an 
ethical art. governed by the inward laws of 
personal life. Character was the basis, the 
ground-work, of his system of education, 
and the development of heart and head and 
hand must all go on together. 

These truths he used to utter with all the 
force and eloquence of conviction. Gifted 
with a wonderful imagination, he was not 
visionary, but in vivid pictures he could 
paint truth in such striking forms that all 
must see ; and by his hard common sense, 
and, at times, most eloquent addresses, he 
won hosts of friends. He loved the beauti- 
ful, the good, the true, and these he taught 
in everything he said and did. 

He had not yet reached the age which 
marks the allotted time of man, but in the 



triumph of his work, in the very midst of 
active duty, he " walked with God and was 
not." Let us emulate his devotion to duty, 
and push on our work to its highest consum- 
mation. As has been beautifully said: When 
the sun sinks behind the western hills, mel- 
lower and more glorious light remains ; so 
when a good man's life is exhaled to Heaven, 
the beauty, the glory, and the beneficence 
of it abide with man forever. — Prof. J. G. 
Becht, Lycoming County, Pa. 



A GREAT AND SHINING LIGHT. 

I am very glad that you have arranged to 
make the next number of The Pennsylvania 
School Journal a memorial number, devot- 
ing it to the personal tributes of respect and 
affection paid to the late Dr. E. E. Higbee, 
State Superintendent of Schools. I had 
myself little personal acquaintance with him, 
but I had known him before he became 
Superintendent as a broad and generous- 
minded scholar, who recognized whatever 
was doing in the way of improving human 
thought and human deeds in all parts of the 
world. 

I had occasion during hissuperintendency 
of schools to admire his ardent energy and 
devotion to duty. On receiving the news 
of his death I could not but feel that a great 
and shining light placed on a hill-top had 
fallen and become extinct to us engaged in 
the cause of education. This feeling of 
mine I know is universal among American 
teachers and superintendents. We have lost 
an educational leader, but his work will still 
live after him. — Dr. Wm. T. Harris, U.S. 
Commissioner of Education, Washington. 

STERLING CHARACTER, MORAL WORTH. 

When the historian of the future shall 
have gathered up the scattered fragments 
and woven them into a history of education 
in this State, the life, the character, and the 
work of the late Dr. E. E. Higbee will be 
found to occupy a prominent place there. 
And justly so, because of his large heart, 
the strength and brilliancy of his intellect, 
the nobility and purity of his character; 
because also of the earnest and untiring 
efforts of a life consecrated to the unselfish 
purpose of making the world purer, better, 
and happier. No one, in the educational 
work in Pennsylvania or elsewhere, could 
come within the sphere of his influence 
without being impressed by his personality, 
or within the range of his voice when dis- 
cussing some important question of morals, 
education or religion, without being stirred, 



9° 



DR. E. E. HIGH RE: IN LOVING R EM 'EMB RANGE. 



often as by a galvanic battery, by the force 
of his eloquence. Nor could one be at all 
associated with him without feeling the in- 
fluence of a heart great and good. 

His kind words, his sympathetic nature, 
his childlike disposition, his love of truth, 
beauty and goodness, endeared him to 
many throughout the State whose tears 
to-day attest their affection for him as for a 
brother or near personal friend. The ex- 
cellence of his scholarship, the wide range 
of his thought, his lofty purpose in life — 
these things are worthy to be held up before 
the young men of the State, and to them 
their eyes will not be closed. 

The leaders in our educational work, 
who met him upon the platform or else- 
where, recognized his extraordinary attain- 
ments, felt the convincing power of his 
logic, and honored his high moral purpose. 
The thoughts that flowed so freely from his 
pen, the words of wisdom that fell from his 
lips, the sympathy that ever welled up from 
the depths of his generous heart, can never 
lose their influence for good. 

Dr. Higbee, kind, noble, sympathetic and 
true-hearted, has gone from among us, but 
his memory is embalmed in a wealth of per- 
sonal affection such as has been felt for but 
few men of our time. The cords of love 
that bind him to the people of this common- 
wealth were not severed when he passed 
within the veil ; and the infinite tenderness 
of his nature will ever linger in the memory 
of those who knew him. His entire life 
seemed transparent. Through it and back 
of it could be seen at all times the motives 
which prompted him to lead a life of unself- 
ish toil, lie worked, he wrote, and he 
preached, not for himself but for others ; 
and they were nobler, truer and better, be- 
cause the course of their life ran for a time 
parallel with his own. He tried to walk 
in the footsteps of the Master, helping the 
weak, cheering the faint, and preaching 
by his every look, word and action, the 
sublime gospel of Love ; and in the midst of 
his usefulness, suddenly and almost without 
warning, the lamp of his life was extin- 
guished. The period of his earthly seed-time 
is ended, but the harvest for garnering the 
immortal grain has just begun, and will sur- 
vive even the memory of the sower. Time 
must fail to record the extent of the harvest 
from a life of such unselfish devotion ; and 
only when time is no more, and the centuries 
are gathered "as grains of sand to the Mas- 
ter's hand" from which they fell, can the 
real value of the life and work of the late 
Dr. Higbee be accurately summed up. 



As the pebble dropped into the placid 
lake sends its influence in ever-widening 
wavelets to the farthest shore, so may we 
hope that the wavelets of his influence will 
go on in ever-widening circles, until they 
are felt on the farthest shores of time. — 
Supt. Samuel Hamilton, Allegheny Co., Pa. 



INTEREST IN TREE-PLANTING. 

I had no personal acquaintance with Dr. 
Higbee before his appointment to the State 
Superintendency. Some time after he came 
to the head of the public schools of the 
State, he visited Williamsport. The imme- 
diate object of his visit was to deliver an 
address before a convention of delegates of 
the Grand Army of the Republic. Although 
he had not been in office a year, yet, in a 
conversation which 1 had with him at that 
time, he spoke of the most urgent needs of 
the public schools. One of the things he 
seemed very much to feel a hindrance to 
educational progress, was the low salaries 
paid to teachers. "At the present salaries," 
he said, "it is utterly impossible for the 
State to retain good teachers in its schools. 
They will go where they are better paid, or 
drift into employments offering better in- 
ducements." 

He seemed somewhat in doubt as to what 
he should say to the convention then in 
session in the Academy of Music ; but of one 
thing he was very positive, that it was not 
only a blessed privilege, but a solemn and 
patriotic duty of the members of the Grand 
Army to do all in their power to see that the 
children of those who had lost their lives in 
the War for the Union should be liberally 
cared for, and that the Soldiers' Orphan 
Schools should be continued until those who 
were then in attendance in these schools at- 
tained the age of sixteen years. Although I 
did not have the pleasure of hearing his ad- 
dress, yet I know from conversation with 
members of the Order afterwards, that he 
left a very good impression upon them, and 
the Soldiers' Orphan Schools were con- 
tinued. 

Dr. Higbee was present at our second 
annual Teachers' Institute in 1888. He 
spent one day with us, and, in an address of 
about forty minutes, he urged the teachers 
to make the lessons so plain to the child, 
that they might not only reach the memory, 
but, if possible, the understanding, and 
thereby lift the child up into the sphere of 
thought and will. 

He had a happy faculty of illustrating and 
enforcing his views and methods before 



SCANNING HIS EVERY WORD AND ACT. 



teachers. I remember on this occasion he 
made use of the right-angled triangle and the 
squares described on its several sides. He 
drew the figure of the triangle on the board, 
and when he was done with it, having com- 
pleted the three squares, it was not, as is 
usually the case in geometry, a theoretical 
demonstration of the truths involved in the 
proposition, but an ocular demonstration of 
all that belongs to the theorem. Any child, 
without a knowledge of the principles of 
geometry, could see that the proposition is 
true. The aptness of the illustration was a 
surprise to many in the audience. For my- 
self, I wished that I might have had such a 
teacher in mathematics. 

Dr. Higbee often came to Williamsport, 
and he was always welcome. The last time 
he addressed a public audience in this city 
was on Arbor Day last spring. There was a 
large audience present, and he did not dis- 
appoint his hearers. He urged the children 
of the schools to plant trees, and by these 
means to beautifv their school grounds and 
their homes. Every tree to him was a 
thought of God, which we were to use for 
the culture of ourselves and others. No man 
in this State ever did so much to awaken an 
interest in tree planting as did Dr. Higbee. 

He was a great man, if greatness is to be 
measured by usefulness and the success ac- 
companying his efforts. We were only 
learning to know him fully towards the close 
of his useful career. His life will be an in- 
spiration to many for years to come. The 
good, in their influence, never die. — Supt. 
S. Transeau, Williamsport, Pa. 



SILENT AWE AND SUBMMISSION. 

Never in the history of Pennsylvania have 
our people been called upon to sustain a 
greater loss than that experienced in the 
sudden and unexpected death of our beloved 
Dr. Higbee. How hard for us to part from 
such a friend ! Let us find consolation in 
the fact that, ere long, if we but emulate his 
fidelity, we may again be permitted to clasp 
that hand now still, again be inspired by 
his more than earthly spirit. 

How many times has our soul been lifted 
above the things of earth, and our fancy led 
into the realm of the beautiful, by the elo- 
quent words and sublime thoughts that fell 
from those now silent lips. No person 
could converse with him, or hear him address 
an audience, without feeling his greatness. 
Scores of our teachers remarked to me after 
listening to him at our Institute held in 
November, that we should never hear Dr. 
Higbee again, for, said they, "He is too 



near the Kingdom." These words were 
sadly prophetic. May the life he lived be 
emulated by every teacher in Pennsylvania, 
thus continuing and broadening and deep- 
ening his influence, with that of all good 
men and women, until, instead of few, the 
world shall have within it, from generation 
to generation, many — an ever-increasing 
number — of such great souls as our late State 
Superintendent. His noble work in Tioga 
county will not soon be forgotten ;"but I feel, 
as I write, that silent awe and submission to 
the Divine will are more fitting than any 
weak words that I can use in this hour of 
sore bereavement. — Supt. M. F. Cass, Nel- 
son, Tioga Co., Pa. 

soldiers' orphan commission. 

At a regular meeting of the Pennsylvania 
Commission of Soldiers' Orphan Schools, 
held at Harrisburg, on Wednesday, Decem- 
ber 18th, 1889, the following preamble and 
resolutions were adopted : 

Whereas, This Commission has learned 
with regret of the death of Dr. E. E. Higbee, 
Superintendent of Public Instruction, and until 
recently Superintendent of Soldiers' Orphan 
Schools : 

And whereas. It is desirous of placing on re- 
cord our estimate of his ability and integrity ; 
therefore be it 

Resolved, That as the Superintendent of the 
said Orphan Schools he was honest, capable 
and untiring in his efforts in the interest of the 
children, and we are convinced from our know- 
ledge of his work that with motives pure and 
conscience void of offence he performed his 
duties in connection therewith. 

Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions, to 
be signed by the officers, be sent to the family 
of the deceased. 

James A. Beaver, 
Geo. G. Boyer, President Com. S. O. S. 

F. S. and Treasurer. 

No good man in America has ever been 
made the subject of so much wicked defama- 
tion and scurrilous newspaper remark as 
Abraham Lincoln, and yet he goes down 
into history not only as one of the most un- 
selfish, greatest, and best men that has ever 
been at the head of our national government, 
but also the best-loved man who has ever 
been President of the United States. This 
last is due in no small part to his maligners, 
who so directed upon him the attention of 
an observant public, that, scanning his every 
word and act, they came to see for them- 
selves how honest, how good, how true his 
patient soul. And then they learned to 
know him and — to love him / 

It was so with Dr. E. E. Higbee in Penn- 
sylvania. Never before in the history of the 






9- 



DR. E. E. JUG BEE; IN LOVING REMEMBRANCE. 



State did such a tempest of furious detrac- 
tion rage about the devoted head of one 
man — and he a high public official, of blame- 
less life, conscientious in the performance of 
every duty, and innocent of every charge so 
recklessly laid against him ! The newspa- 
pers of each political party, with three or 
four noble exceptions, vied with each other, 
from day to day, for many months, in their 
work of "bearing false witness," until the 
whole Commonwealth was roused to look 
carefully at Dr. Higbee and his work. We 
know now that what was meant to be his 
ruin has really given him that foremost 
place in the confidence, respect, and affection 
of the State, which, with his innate modesty 
and desire to avoid attention, he would not 
otherwise have obtained. Dr. Higbee would 
never have been fully known to Pennsyl- 
vania as he is to-day, but for this Soldiers' 
Orphan campaign of slander. Again, "He 
maketh the wrath of man to praise Him." 
We quote from a private letter written to a 
friend during this most trying period of all 
his life, in which he says : 

" lean stand persecution, but I feel it too, 
perhaps more keenly than my friends are 
aware of. I cannot see that I justly deserve 
what the Governor sees fit to put upon me. 
If he enjoys it, I only pity him in his youth, 
and trust he may not be called upon to 
suffer its sting in his maturer years. This 
much I have learned as never before, that 
without charity we are nothing. This queen 
of all the theological virtues is almost too 
tender and beautiful to be seen in the gen- 
eral walks of men." 



GREAT WORK FOR THE SCHOOLS OF THE 
COMMONWEALTH. 

Dr. E. E. Higbee was a great and noble 
man. The influence of his lectures at 
Teachers' Institutes was of a positive char- 
acter, and left a lasting impression on the 
minds of his hearers. I was frequently as- 
sociated with him in Institute work during 
the past few years, and am indebted to him 
for some of the most useful lessons of my 
life. In the fall of 1888, I attended the 
County Institute at York. One 'evening, 
instead of attending the lecture, I went with 
him to a little church in the suburbs of the 
town to hear him preach. On our way we 
passed a humble house in which the parents 
and children were singing. "Stop a mo- 
ment," said he, "I want to hear the sing- 
ing," and, after a moment's pause, he said, 
" God bless them ! If there is one spot on 
earth that brings us nearer to Heaven than 



another, it is where father and mother and 
children mingle their voices in song around 
their own fireside." 

Dr. Higbee was a dear friend to me, a 
friend who never withheld an encouraging 
word, and never hesitated to point out an 
error and seek to correct it ; and in offering 
this brief tribute to his memory, I do so 
with a sense of loss that cannot be supplied. 
He was, in fact, an inspiration to every one 
associated with him ; you recognized in him 
a great leader, possessing unusual natural 
gifts thoroughly developed and carefully 
cultivated ; a finished scholar, whose depth 
of research, careful preparation, and personal 
investigation so assimilated knowledge that 
with him it became power because a part of 
himself. 

He was a powerful speaker, with an unu- 
sual gift of expression and aptness of illus- 
tration. He used classic English, analyzed 
subjects thoroughly, and spoke with an en- 
ergy, when expressing deep feeling, that at 
times made the very platform tremble be- 
neath his feet. 

He was also a good teacher. The bril- 
liancy of his gifted mind shone with unusual 
lustre when, seated with a few friends, he en- 
tered into conversation in an informal way, 
touching literature, history, education, or 
philosophy. He would show you things 
you never saw before, and send you back to 
your history, to Shakespeare, and the Bible, 
to read as you never read before. 

His ideals of education were high, his 
analysis of educational theories complete, 
and his criticism of methods keen and con- 
clusive. In his lectures he dwelt mostly on 
subjects aiming at higher culture ; to unite 
all the educational forces in the Common- 
wealth, and to lessen the difference existing 
between the home life of the child and the 
school life. He regarded the school as sup- 
plementing the home, and desired to bring 
them nearer together in sympathy and in 
their work. He did a great work for the 
schools of this Commonwealth, the influence 
of which will continue to be felt for many a 
year after the grasses have grown green over 
the grave of our friend and benefactor. 

But above all, he was a man of earnest 
and exalted Christian character. The purity 
of his life, the simplicity of his nature, the 
depth of his feelings, the firmness of his 
faith in God, all' gave evidence of the per- 
fect ideals that shaped his manhood, that 
rounded out and completed his noble life. 

In the death of Dr. Higbee the cause of 
Education has lost a firm supporter; the 
teachers of our State have lost a true and 



HIS LIGHTNING RAPIDITY IN ACTION. 



93 



sympathetic friend ; and the youth of our 
land a great teacher. We all mourn the 
loss of one who inspired us to nobler deeds 
while he lived, and the memory of whose 
life, now that he is gone, shall be for us a 
guiding star toward Heaven and a glad im- 
mortality. — Supt. James M. Coughlin, Lu- 
zerne County, Pa. 



FIRST SKATES, JACK-KNIFE, HOMER. 

When I first met Dr. Higbee, I was a boy 
of about eight years of age. He was passing 
through Greencastle, and stopped off at my 
father's house, which Was in those days a 
sort of resting-place for preachers and teach- 
ers and doctors of divinity on their way to 
and from Mercersburg. 

I remember yet, I was holding myself 
somewhat aloof, peeping shyly at the man 
of whose scholarship even then I had heard 
a great deal, when, to my surprise, the dis- 
tinguished visitor called me to him, and 
took me off to a store and bought for me my 
first pair of skates. Leaving the other 
preachers who were at the house at the time 
to settle the questions of theology which 
they were discussing, he took me off to where 
there was some ice, and gave me my first 
lesson in skating. I remember how his eyes 
twinkled when he saw how happy I was, 
finally, in being able to strike out for my- 
self. On another visit he gave me my first 
jack-knife. 

He did a thousand similar things for a 
thousand other boys in his life-time. His 
fondness for boys was proverbial. Youth 
attracted him, but a boy was a fascination. 
He never passed a boy without noticing 
him. Every new little face was a new world 
for him. I have heard it said of him that he 
often spent his last cent to make some little 
fellow happy. It seems like something more 
than an accident that the last person whom 
he talked with on earth was a boy at a railway 
station, in whose future plans he showed an 
interest, though an utter stranger to him. 

At Mercersburg he often went skating 
with the college boys, and joined them in 
their excursions to the mountains for chest- 
nuts. On these occasions he was always the 
life of the party — the woods rang with his 
laughter over our boyish pranks. The way 
he could skate, and run, and jump, and play 
"shinney " on the ice, was always a marvel 
to us. He was fond of sports and out-door 
games of all kinds. 

He always took delight in watching chil- 
dren at their games and play. He did not 
do it as a study of human nature, but as a 



matter of genuine enjoyment. There were 
times when he could not resist the desire to 
take part himself. Many a game of marbles 
he stopped to witness on the street; and 
often he was to be seen on his knee with a 
"white-alley" in his hand aiming for an 
extraordinary shot, the boys all around him 
watchingTvith breathless expectation. And 
when the shot was made, and the marble 
aimed at went flying from the ring (he never 
missed), how happy he seemed as he would 
jump to his feet and run away amidst the 
shouts of the boys! 

On one occasion, in passing a house where 
he was well known, he saw a party of chil- 
dren playing hide-and-seek. After watch- 
ing them for some time, he told them all to 
shut their eyes until he would say " ready." 
All eyes were closed. In an instant up a 
tree he went, jumping from limb to limb, 
like a squirrel, until he was lost to sight in 
the topmost branches. Then came a voice 
from the top — "Ready !" Immediately the 
children scattered, only to return, one by 
one, to give up the search. When, upon 
being told to look up, they espied him in the 
top of a tall locust tree, no merrier shouts 
ever ascended to the skies. 

His readiness to grasp a situation and his 
lightning rapidity of action were proverbial. 
One summer evening at Mercersburg, an oil 
lamp was upset by some accident, and the 
burning oil set fire to Mrs. Higbee's cloth- 
ing. He heard the scream of his wife, and 
running quickly to the room where the ac- 
cident happened, found her enveloped in a 
mass of flames. There was no time to pause. 
Delay meant death, if indeed it was not 
then already too late to save her. Quick as 
a flash he caught his wife in his arms, and 
commenced beating out the flames with his 
hands, and in this way smothered the fire 
and saved her life. The plan was a desper- 
ate one. It meant perhaps his own death, 
but he had no thought of that. When he 
was confronted with the situation he saw 
what was the only thing to be done, and of 
course he would do it if it cost his life. In the 
struggle, the flesh on his hands was burned 
to the bone, and, although he suffered in- 
tense pain, he did not murmur. I shall 
never forget the heroic fortitude he dis- 
played, as he sat down on the porch after 
the fire was extinguished, and, in the 
midst of his suffering, engaged in such pleas- 
ant converse that, for the time, the accident 
seemed to be forgotten, and all became 
calm. He did not recover from these 
severe burns for many weeks, but went on 
with his work busy as ever. 



94 



DR. E. E. BIG BEE: IN LOVING REMEMBRANCE. 



He sometimes taught us Homer and his- 
tory. The whole scene before Troy seemed 
to be enacted there before us in the recitation 
room. There were Achilles, Agamemnon, 
and Nestor, right before us. He seemed to 
know the whole story by heart. On one 
occasion, when the student reciting was 
stumbling through one of Nestor's fine 
speeches, bungling the scanning, Dr. Higbee, 
becoming impatient, suddenly jumped to his 
feet and looking at the class said, "Hear!" 
and commenced and ran through the entire 
speech in Greek from memory, and without 
the aid of the book. "Oh, how grand! 
how beautiful!" he said as he finished it. 
The dramatic manner in which it was done 
astonished us as much as if Nestor himself 
had appeared bodily before us. No lan- 
guage, as he taught it, was ever dead. His 
magic touch made the dead speak and the 
dumb oracles break their silence. 

It is not often that a man is admired by 
persons of all ages of life. Such was the case, 
however, with Dr. Higbee. Boys, young 
men, and the aged, were all alike fond of 
his company, and there will be abundant 
testimony from them all to his greatness, his 
goodness, and his loving kindness. It could 
truly have been said of him, 

He sits, 'mongst men, like a descended god; 
He hath a kind of honor sets him off 
More than a mortal seeming. 

John W. Apple, Esq., Lancaster, Pa. 



CHILDHOOD AND COLLEGE DAYS. 

My acquaintance with our departed friend 
began in early childhood. We were school- 
mates from the time he was three or four 
years old. He was a very active child and 
was in school before he could speak plainly. 
I was about three years his senior, and I re- 
member, as if it were yesterday, seeing him 
in the hands of the teacher for some of his 
little pranks. 

He was always a favorite and always bub- 
bling over with life and activity. His home 
was not far from the college, but the house 
was burned while Elnathan was a small boy, 
and the family moved to another part of the 
town. His father was an uneducated man, 
but an original genius, always saying some- 
thing that one could never forget. When 
Elnathan and I were together in his college 
room for the last time, his father had come 
to take him home, and he, knowing that he 
had delayed him for a considerable time, 
said, on coming down, "Father, are you 
ready ?" " Ready ! I was ready yesterday •/' ' 
He was once impressing on me the folly of 



writing beforehand what one has to say. 
He said, "When I was in the legislature I 
mentioned to my neighbor a point I was 
going to make against the member who was 
speaking. 'That's good,' he said, 'but 
you will forget it. Write it down.' I did, 
and I put it down in my pocket, and my 
tobacco box top of it, and stuffed my hand- 
kerchief in over that, and then I like to have 
forgotten it after all." He was a strong 
Whig, and when Henry Clay visited Bur- 
lington he determined to be the first to take 
him by the hand. Mounting a pile of lumber 
on the wharf he attempted to spring aboard 
the boat before it was made fast. He missed 
his footing as he struck the deck near Mr. 
Clay, who, seeing his peril, sprung and 
caught him, and hauled him in. No sooner 
had he regained his feet than he shouted, 
"Hurrah for Henry Clay — saved his country 
twice and Lewis Higbee once !" 

Elnathan 's mother was very different from 
her husband; quiet, reserved, and loving 
this son especially with all her heart. He, 
doubtless, owed his varied talents in a 
marked degree to both parents. 

Our friend was a quick scholar, a leader 
in our sports, in everything full of enthusi- 
asm. I remember his rushing up stairs one 
day, exclaiming, "An idea! I've got an 
idea!" and he set himself at once to put it 
on paper. He stood well in the general 
college studies, but was a great reader, and 
specially interested in literature. He com- 
posed with great ease and elegance, and 
was fond of writing. 

He was a natural mimic, imitating with 
wonderful accuracy the various cries of 
animals. He was out with his mother 
for a call one afternoon driving a young 
horse, not yet fully broken to the harness. 
They had stopped. He was tying the 
horse, and his mother was between the 
gate and her friend's door, when a donkey 
near by set up a loud and interminable 
bray. His mother turned at once and 
cried in anxious tones, " Elnathan, don't — 
don't! — you'll scare tne colt." 

In the earlier part of his college course he 
associated mostly with irreligious students, 
and roomed in a division where there was 
not a single Christian boy. They accord- 
ingly named it the Christian Division, and 
drew up a constitution in school-boy Latin 
which was published in the village paper, 
the Free Press. It was signed in burlesque 
Latin, a play upon the real name, or upon 
some personal peculiarity; e. g., Longum 
Crus Frigidum, Long-legged Blake. I have 
little doubt that Higbee was at the bottom 



THE CHILDREN WERE HIS SPECIAL CONCERN. 



95 



of it. It was very humorous. His name 
was Hie Apis (bee). 

During his Junior year he was led to the 
Saviour through a long and painful struggle. 
He became active in his interest for others. 
He told me that one of his old mates had 
promised to read the Bible and certain other 
religious books "as soon as he had finished 
Don Quixote," but some days later re- 
ported with mingled sadness and amusement 
that John declared that he had not yet read 
the last page of Don Quixote, and that he 
didn't think he ever should. I feared that 
he was losing somewhat of his religious fer- 
vor before we left college, but subsequent 
letters showed that the fire still glowed and 
that God was preparing him to be a burning 
and shining light. 

I had a delightful letter from him soon 
after his appointment to the office in which 
he died. I should be glad to have known 
more of him, and to have seen with my 
own eyes how abundantly, and more than 
abundantly, he fulfilled the promise of his 
youth. He has gone as one of his active 
and enthusiastic temperament must delight 
to go — in the full vigor of his powers, in the 
midst of his usefulness. May our land be 
blessed with many such as he ! — Rev. C. C. 
Torrey, Harvard, Massachusetts. 

DR. HIGBEE MEMORIAL DAY. 

The prompt and unanimous approval of 
the project for the erection of a monument 
or other memorial in honor of Dr. Higbee, 
as suggested by Superintendent Brumbaugh 
and at once seconded by Superintendent 
Brecht and others, speaks with noble em- 
phasis both of the regard in which the in- 
fluence and the work of the late State Super- 
intendent are held in all parts of the Com- 
monwealth, and of the generous disposition 
of the men who could give such prompt 
recognition and hearty support to the 
measure proposed. It is eminently proper 
thus to honor the memory of a great and 
good man, who has been a public benefac- 
tor in no ordinary degree. 

To bring the life and character and work 
of such a man prominently to the attention 
of youth, is one of the best means of im- 
pressing deeply the best lessons that are 
ever learned by any human soul. To en- 
courage pupils to contribute of their own 
little means towards a cause so worthy is a 
wholesome lesson in giving that may be 
worth more than many a lesson in the cheap 
school arithmetic of getting and keeping 
which trains so often towards narrowness, 
meanness, selfishness. Souls there are that 



pass such occasions by, preventing good to 
those under their care, and grow more 
shrivelled in so doing; while greater natures 
turn them to account and make them oc- 
casions of blessing to themselves and others, 
young and old, about them. 

Never before in the history of Pennsylva- 
nia have the character and woik of one man 
— and he a preacher of the Word and a 
teacher of Righteousness — been so held up 
for universal regard and admiration every- 
where throughout the State, as on Friday, 
January 31st, 1890. This memorial service 
was the grand thing in the thought of its 
projectors, the contribution to the memorial 
fund being a matter of great account but 
yet of secondary importance as compared 
with the former. The first afforded favora- 
ble opportunity for the second as a fitting 
incident of the day. 



HIS WORK DOES NOT DIE WITH HIM. 

Dr. Higbee was indeed a noble man. A 
finer type of an educated man it has never 
been my lot to meet. His attainments were 
of a high order, higher than those of most 
educated men. Yet all his learning, great 
as it was, did not make him in the least de- 
gree proud of these attainments. He was as 
meek and humble as a child. Any one, no 
matter what his station in life, could freely 
approach him. Learning with him was not 
a thing for show, but for use. His sole aim 
seemed to be to aid in elevating mankind, 
to be a benefactor of the race to which he 
belonged. The children were his special 
concern. "We must," he said, "improve 
the public schools ; we must make them 
better from year to year. Better salaries 
must be paid, and better teachers employed. 
The salaries of good teachers are lower than 
those of any other grade of educated workers, 
and there is no reason why this should be so. 
Taxation should be equalized ; every one 
should pay his proper share of it. The State 
appropriations should be increased and the 
increase applied to the teachers' salaries." 

He took great interest in the County In- 
stitutes. " The Institutes of Pennsylvania," 
he said, " are a great help in advancing the 
cause of education. At these meetings we 
can talk to the directors and parents, ex- 
plain to them the great aims of education, 
and what we are doing in the schools for 
the children. At the Institutes I do my 
principal work. The details of school work 
I leave to you Superintendents and to the 
teachers." 

In his addresses to Institutes he always 
aimed high. He said, " I try to impress 



9 6 



DR. E. E. HIGBEE: IN LOVING REMEMBRANCE. 



upon parents and teachers and school offi- 
cers the worth of the human soul, that the 
mind is greater than the body, that the 
means are never superior to the ends to be 
accomplished by them. A knowledge of 
arithmetic, geography, grammar, history, 
etc., is well enough in its place, but the 
object of education is not to make arithme- 
ticians, geographers, grammarians, histo- 
rians of our boys and girls, but men and 
women of character and moral worth." 

Northumberland county, I believe, re- 
ceived its full share of the Doctor's atten- 
tion. He was at our County Institutes in 
1887 and 1888, and intended to be with us 
on Thursday of Institute week in 1889, but 
the high water prevented him from reaching 
us. He also attended a number of Insti- 
tutes held by my predecessor. His lectures 
and addresses were always full of wholesome 
advice, and were largely appreciated by the 
large and attentive audiences that invariably 
greeted him. 

Though no longer with us in human form 
— in spirit he still is here; and will long re- 
main in the memory of the present genera- 
tion of Pennsylvania teachers. When a 
great and good man like Dr. Higbee dies 
his work does not die with him, but goes on 
in benediction and blessing. The Doctor 
was an eminent example of what the boy 
of energy, ability and integrity, no matter 
how humble his surroundings, may make of 
himself — if he has the will to do so. His 
life was an example of unselfishness and 
purity of purpose, which every teacher can 
safely hold up to his pupils for emulation. — 
Supt. W. E. Bloom, Sunbury, Pa. 



ABLE OFFICIAL AND LOVING FRIEND. 

Dr. Higbee was last with us during our 
Institute in 1888, and our teachers are much 
indebted to his kindly-spoken words of ad- 
vice and counsel for the better work they 
have been able to do during the past year. 
Quiet, modest and unassuming, yet withal 
dignified, and an honor to the position he 
held, he gave help to all who have a heart 
in their work and are anxious to do better 
by being better. 

Having received the appointment to fill 
the vacancy in the office of Superintendent 
in this county, I went to Dr. Higbee for 
counsel and advice. The kind words he 
spoke will go with me in the future as a 
guide to better and nobler things. His ad- 
vice was freely given, not as from a higher 
official to one of inferior rank, but as from 
man to man, from one friend to another. 

His many earnest pleas for brighter 



school-rooms and more home-like surround- 
ings will still be heard, though he is no 
more. They live in the hearts of those who 
love children and labor for their good. In 
him the State has indeed lost an able official 
and the schools a loving friend. — Supt. H. 
M. Putnam, Warren, Pa. 



MANHOOD THE ONE IMMORTAL THING. 

No clear-eyed, honest soul ever had diffi- 
culty in obtaining a true estimate of Dr. 
Higbee and the sterling qualities of his mind 
and heart — because what he seemed to be in 
reality he was. Men saw at once that in 
him there was neither guile, nor disposition 
to harbor an unkind feeling or a dishonest 
thought. The man was open and frank as 
a child, and his integrity of purpose as easily 
read by the world as is the open book. His 
whole being breathed a deep religious faith 
that gave the same warm color to all his per- 
sonal and official association. Through the 
irresistible charm of his personality, good 
men were drawn into close relationship 
with him, and thus learned to know him 
most intimately. 

It was in this close bond of friendship 
which he almost unconsciously invited young 
and old to form with him, that he would 
surprise and delight his hearers with his rare 
and versatile powers. Who that ever took 
a. stroll with him on a summer evening across 
the fields or by a country road-side, or sat 
with him in the social group at home or 
elsewhere, can forget the rich flow of anec- 
dote, graceful humor, and suggestive remark 
with which he made the most common-place 
subject to be invested with new attractions? 
Time and again we have heard him pour out 
the thought of his full soul under circum- 
stances of this kind, and always his words 
breathed a profound knowledge of men and 
things. Occasions like these gave one new 
conceptions of life and of duty, furnishing 
the elements of a new growth and higher de- 
velopment. In conversation and upon the 
platform he made friend and stranger alike 
feel the sincerity of his purpose and the no- 
bility of his character. This was so notably 
conspicuous in Dr. Higbee that it made him 
the true and trusted friend, before whom few 
men hesitated to speak their thoughts aloud, 
whether in agreement or at vanence with 
his own. 

Dr. Higbee impressed one as a true man. 
Meet him when we would, he was always 
the same warmhearted, unselfish friend, 
ready to hear and to help. The distinction 
of office had no effect upon him. He was 
always approachable, and the light of wel- 



FERVOR, ENTHUSIASM, POETIC INSPIRATION. 



97 



come that shone in his eyes gave all the as- 
surance necessary to the timid that they 
were the very persons whom he wished to 
see at that moment. How he made you feel 
"at home," forgetful of all restraint! He 
possessed the secret of making you talk, and 
opening your mind fully to him, largely be- 
cause you felt that it was the man and not 
the official or politician that was addressed. 
It was not necessary to humor him first, nor 
to pay compliment to his official rank, to 
gain his interest in any one's behalf. All 
such attention was extremely distasteful to 
him, and consequently never permitted in 
his presence. How radically he differed in 
this respect from the majority of men ! 

To him a good man was greater than 
prince or king, and possessed a greater 
glory than any worldly distinction or pro- 
motion could confer. Official rank, titles 
of honor, and positions of power and 
wealth, he regarded of no more real value in 
the problem of life than are cap and cloak 
to him who wears them. In his view it was 
not the office, nor any labor performed 
in it, that made the man, but it was the 
man that honored and dignified them. I re- 
call an answer at an examination conducted 
by Dr. Higbee, which in substance was that 
it is a higner distinction to be a Senator 
than a Congressman. Before the answer 
was cold, the Doctor replied like a flash, 
"No! no! That is all wrong ! It is the 
man that adds distinction to the position, 
and not the position to the man." With 
Lowell he believed that "manhood is the 
one immortal thing beneath Time's change- 
ful sky," and his whole life seems to have 
been devoted to impressing this sentiment 
upon his brother-man. 

It needed but brief personal contact with 
Dr. Higbee to convince any one that he 
was a true teacher. Born with all the gifts 
and graces that command respect and win 
affection, he combined with them a trained 
intellect and a great soul whose inexhaustible 
resources proved an inspiration to all among 
whom he labored. Quick in his sympathies, 
intense in his earnestness, most graphic in 
his power of description, wonderful in his 
versatility, he aroused human souls as few 
men have been able to do, and showed them 
— often as in a vision of glory — the wonders 
of God's wisdom both in His book of 
Nature and that of Revelation. Under 
such gifted direction men are regenerated, 
imbued with the very spirit of the highest 
ideals of human life. 

Men who can thus breathe a quickening 
spirit into the mute forms of books, and 



into creation round about them, or who 
can stir every noble impulse in the human 
heart with a pure ambition to achieve ex- 
cellence, are the only real, the only great 
teachers. Dr. Higbee beyond question en- 
joyed the rare distinction of belonging to 
this class of teachers divinely commissioned. 
Under the touch of his gifted fancy every 
shrub and flower became instinct with life ; 
every pebble and blade of grass revealed 
the wondrous story of its creation ; the stars 
told their tale of splendor and of awe, the 
leaping rivulet repeated the secret of its 
ocean home, the mysteries of mind and 
spirit were made simple and attractive, and 
the duties, the responsibilities, the joys of 
life were given the charm of close associa- 
tion with another and better world. Men 
like Dr. Higbee have made life better and 
holier by giving us a clearer view of the 
pathway that leadeth to the realm where the 
soul shall be erect and free. — County Supt. 
M. J. Brecht, Lancaster, Pa. 



"what was his method?" 

I recall with a great deal of satisfaction 
and pleasure our recitations in Horace. We 
were reading the Odes, and such teaching 
as we received was a revelation to me. 
There was no suspicion of "gerund grind- 
ing," but everything was made to bend to 
the sole purpose of interpreting and under- 
standing the immortal creations of the great 
Latin poet, so as to make their contents a 
heart-possession and a joy forever. 

For this work Dr. Higbee was a master, 
and with him we were made to feel that 
Latin poetry was something more than a 
body of illustrative material whose only use- 
fulness lay in the facility with which it lends 
itself to the study of prosody and grammar. 
These latter were not ignored, but the main 
thing was to get at the thought, the idea, 
and re-clothe it in his own choice English 
for the easy apprehension of his hearers. 
Thus he sent the warm life-blood coursing 
through the dry bones of this so-called dead 
language; for dead it could not be when 
re-animated, as it was by him, with the soul 
which was and is its life. 

Many a time, in the month of "leafy 
June," or Chaucer's favorite May, we gath- 
ered around him under the shade of one of 
his own beloved trees in his beautiful yard, 
where, stretched out in easy attitude upon 
the grass, we recited our lesson, sure to im- 
bibe from him, unconsciously though it 
were, something of the fervor, the enthusi- 
asm, the poetic inspiration, which consti- 



98 



DR. E. E. HIGBEE: IN LOVING REMEMBRANCE. 



tuted so large a part of his wonderful nature. 
I only begin to realize what a privilege it 
was to be in his class. 

And how he put himself out to widen our 
knowledge and cultivate in us the habit of 
patient research and independent study ! 
So we were made to read, by evening reci- 
tations in his study, the Confessions of St. 
Augustine, the old Canons of the Church, 
and Archbishop Trench's collection of Sa- 
cred Latin Poetry, including many of those 
grand old hymns of the mediaeval church, in 
whose lines sound the "voices in which 
men uttered the deepest things of their 
hearts." It was something to be introduced 
into these by-ways of sound learning, and 
to be touched, be it never so lightly, by the 
breath of scholarship. 

" What was his method?" does some one 
ask? He had none; his personality was his 
method, and it never failed him. Large- 
hearted, broad-minded, sympathetic with 
everything truthful, beautiful, and good ; 
tender, generous and forgiving, he hath 
gone to his reward. But the best that was 
in him — and oh, how priceless that was ! — 
he poured out with a free hand, and in it he 
lives enshrined in the minds, the hearts, the 
lives of thousands who are better for having 
known him. — A Student at Mercersburg. 



HIS MANNER IN THE DEPARTMENT. 

When thinking of our late highly honored 
and greatly respected chief, a thousand re- 
collections crowd to my mind. But, in 
order to be brief, I shall allow others to 
speak of his work on the rostrum, in the 
pulpit, in the professor's chair in the col- 
lege, before teachers' institutes, in the edi- 
torial sanctum, and in the world at large, 
while I shall note a few facts in regard to 
his life in his office surrounded by his sub- 
ordinates. 

No one who was familiar with Dr. Hig- 
bee, with his plain, unassuming manner, 
kindliness of heart, breadth of culture and 
consideration for the rights of others, could 
fail to respect and love him. In his treat- 
ment of those around him, he dealt with the 
character of men, and not with the accident 
of position in life. This, it seemed to me, 
was one of the most prominent features of 
his character. He exemplified very fully 
in his daily life the teachings of his Divine 
Master. In the almost three years that I 
spent with him in the Department of Public 
Instruction, I never heard him utter a harsh 
or an unkind word, though the provocation 
at times was great. In his intercourse with 



his subordinates in the office, he treated 
them as men, gave each his work and ex- 
pected it to be done, but nothing of the 
master was visible. I do not suppose that 
he ever gave a command in the office ; it 
was always a request — which was made with 
the courtesy of one who had no right to 
demand service. As a consequence every 
one served him through love and respect, 
and not through any feeling of dread or fear. 
It was always a pleasure to any one in the 
Department to oblige him. Indeed, he 
seemed more to us like a considerate father 
than a superior officer. His arrival in the 
office was always hailed with gladness, and 
if his absence had been of a few days' dura- 
tion, each one would receive a cordial grasp 
of the hand and a pleasant greeting. His 
charming social qualities, his fund of anec- 
dotes, and wit in repartee, made his presence 
always desirable both to interest and in- 
struct us. 

In his occasional leisure moments his 
usual custom was to seat himself beside some 
one and engage in a friendly discussion of 
some literary, scientific, or religious topic. 
While he did not obtrude, unasked, his 
opinions on religious matters, yet at all 
times, when not otherwise engaged, he 
would, if desired, sit, in apparent enjoy- 
ment, as he elucidated with great clearness 
and precision the passage of Scripture under 
consideration. The writer remembers dis- 
tinctly many such instances, some of which 
gave to him pleasant surprises, revealing new 
beauties in old truths, and deducing un- 
looked-for conclusions from those already 
known, and making impressions which he 
shall never forget. Especially is this true 
of an exposition given to a portion of St. 
Matthew's gospel (embracing the current 
Sabbath-school lesson), to Mr. Stewart and 
myself late at night, after all the others had 
retired from the office. His keen insight 
into spiritual matters, his wealth of illustra- 
tion and the beauty and force of his diction, 
were truly wonderful, as he proceeded to 
give the two of us an exposition of that 
difficult and much disputed passage, "And 
I say unto thee that thou art Peter ; and 
upon this rock I will build my church ; and 
the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." 
It was an exposition worthy of any pulpit, 
and would done credit to any minister. 

But it is not so much my object to speak 
of his profound learning — others will do 
that — as it is to show what struck me as one 
of his remarkable traits, the manner in which 
he carried with him the spirit of his Master, 
exemplified His teachings in his own life, 



POWER TO INSPIRE WITH ZEAL FOR LEARNING. 



9t 



and his pleasure in talking of sacred things, 
— of God's dealings with men and the 
beauties of that Heaven of which he seemed 
to have a foretaste ; of which he had thought 
much and of which too, I think, he certainly 
expected soon to know more, for he should 
"see eye to eye." 

Another trait worthy of notice. He 
worked to the last. The last minutes in the 
office were given to finishing his paper for 
State Supt. Draper, of New York. That 
was handed to the writer to copy on the 
type-writer, with instructions to leave space 
for any corrections that he might think nec- 
essary to make when he should read it on 
his return. He then said, in his usual plea- 
sant manner, "I presume that I can get no 
one in this office to go with me to the Mif- 
flintown Institute?" No one expressing a 
desire to go, he passed out with his custom- 
ary cheery adieu. His work in the Depart- 
ment was then finished ; in a little over 
twenty-four hours afterwards his life-work 
ended in Mifflintown. And, now, as we re- 
call his kindness, his faithfulness to duty, 
the precepts he has given, and the example 
he has set before us, his parting, as well as 
his life, seems to have been fittingly de- 
scribed by Goldsmith : 

To relieve the wretched was his pride, 
And e'en his failings leaned to virtue's side ; 
But in his duty prompt at every call, 
He watched and wept and prayed for all ; 
And as a bird each fond endearment tries, 
To tempt its new-fledged offspring to the skies, 
He tried each art, reproved each dull delay, 
Allured to brighter worlds, and led the way. 

— Hon. A. D. Glenn, Department of Pub- 
lic Instruction, Harrisburg, Pa. 



LAST DAY OF CONSCIOUS LIFE. 

Dr. Higbee lectured to my class on 
Church History and Exegesis. He made 
all his hearers enthusiastic in the study of 
Early Christianity and of the Gospel of 
John. He sometimes taught Homer in the 
College. At such times he would whistle 
the metre while the pupils were scanning 
the lines. His chief excellence as a teacher 
lay in his power to inspire others with zeal 
for learning and with an insatiable desire to 
master difficulties. His ability in this re- 
spect was not confined to one particular line 
of work, but, so far as my observation ex- 
tended, he had this power to inspire in every 
department of school work to which he 
turned his attention. As a public officer his 
services were confined to the children of one 
Commonwealth. His eloquent speeches in 
favor of better teachers, better school houses, 



larger appropriations, and more careful in- 
vestigation of the problems of pedagogy, 
have exerted an influence, the magnitude of 
which will become more apparent with the 
lapse of time. 

It was my privilege to spend in his com- 
pany the last day in which he was conscious. 
He reached Mifflintown on Monday even- 
ing, and immediately came to my room at 
the Jacobs House. He chatted for a time 
with Mr. Meyers and myself, went to his 
room a few minutes, and, on returning, said 
he must find a drug store for the purpose of 
getting a prescription filled. We went to 
the evening exercises of the Institute, and 
at the close spent about an hour in discuss- 
ing school work. Next morning he opened 
the Institute with prayer, and after recess 
made a most eloquent speech on the im- 
portance of securing libraries for the school 
and the family. After dinner he propped 
his head with a pillow as he reclined on the 
bed and seemed to be asleep for a time. 
He suddenly awoke and asked whether it 
was not time to go to the Institute. I re- 
plied, "Not yet." He then closed his 
eyes, as if in deep meditation. We had 
been discussing a book which he thought 
of writing and which at different times I 
had urged him to prepare. Finally I said, 
"It is time for the Institute." He jumped 
up with a good deal of vim and exclaimed, 
"Thank the Lord, I am getting stronger !" 

In the afternoon he again lectured, and I 
thought with more animation even than 
during the forenoon. However, he held 
his hand over his forehead, as if he felt a 
pain in his head. After adjournment he 
seemed tired and I offered him my arm, but 
he did not lean on it in the slightest degree. 
At the head of the stairs I asked him to 
come to my room, and he said, " I will be 
there shortly." Soon I heard a rush down- 
stairs which seemed to be his step, and I 
looked to see whether he was going out. 
After the lapse of a little time I went down- 
stairs and concluded that he must have taken 
a walk, because, when I knocked at his door, 
there was no response. It was near train 
time and soon the sad news came that Dr. 
Higbee had been stricken with paralysis at 
the station, and that they had sent him with 
the train to Harrisburg. 

At the station I met a boy who had con- 
versed with the Doctor just before the at- 
tack came upon him. He asked him whether 
he was attending school. The boy replied, 
" No, I am learning a trade." He urged the 
lad to go ahead, saying, "A man without a 
trade amounts to very little in this world." 



DR. E. E. BIG BEE: IN LOVING REMEMBRANCE. 



I have had many teachers, eminent in 
science and letters, but from none of them 
did I receive more inspiration for and stim- 
ulus to study and work. It was a rare priv- 
ilege to sit at his feet, or to be in his com- 
pany. He was generous to a fault, spoke 
kindly of those who had so deeply wronged 
him in his later days. His darling hope in 
the school work was to get three millions 
appropriation for the public school system. 
Had he lived he would have accomplished 
this end during his third term. His equal 
in culture, ability and versatility we shall 
never see again in the School Department 
at Harrisburg. 

Our loss is his gain. The many problems 
which he used to discuss for our benefit, 
will be clearer and easier of solution in that 
world in which faith has given way to sight 
and hope has changed to glad fruition. — 
Dr. N. C. Schaeffer, Principal State Norma/ 
School, Kutztown, Berks County, Pa. 



HIGH OFFICE OF STATE SUPERINTENDENT. 

In teaching the boys and girls before us 
in the school-room, if worthy the place we 
hold, we are teaching their greatgrand- 
children. If unworthy, our influence is per- 
haps none the less far reaching, but of this 
dark side we do not now care to speak. As 
the sphere of influence broadens, when 
called to the duty of training teachers, or 
supervising their work in the Normal 
Schools, or within county, city, borough, 
or other limits more or less restricted, the 
moulding power, in thought and character, 
of the true teacher is vastly increased. But 
when he stands at the head of a great sys- 
tem, with its tens of thousands of active 
workers, among them many earnest, reverent 
souls eager to do to the utmost of their 
ability the duty to which they have been 
" called," all looking to him as their official 
head, and thousands among them listening 
for his thought, yielding to his generous 
impulse, quickened by his inspiring word, 
stimulated by his tireless energy, warmed by 
his enthusiasm, — it requires the arithmetic 
of the angels to estimate his influence for 
good upon his own and future generations. 

The possibilities of good work in such a 
position so broaden before us, as we con- 
sider them, that we cannot but regard the 
Department of Public Instruction the most 
important under our State government, and 
the position of State Superintendent, when 
worthily held, — much more, when ideally 
filled, — the most influential for good in Penn- 
sylvania. As the Chief Justice of the United 
States is the highest-seated American, higher 



even than the President, so the Superin- 
tendent of Public Instruction, but in a dif- 
ferent field, has long seemed to us the high- 
est-seated Pennsylvanian — in those direc- 
tions which to a good man make life best 
worth living. 

What capitalist, what manufacturer, what 
law-maker, what editor, what clergyman or 
college president, what Governor even, in 
Pennsylvania — however high his motive, 
good his work, or honorable and honored 
any one of these men may have been — has 
exerted an influence for good at once so 
glad, so wide-spread, so far-reaching, as that 
of our late Superintendent? And he was 
enabled to do this — himself unconscious of 
his influence, and almost unrecognized by 
the State at large until he had passed beyond 
— because of the grand opportunity which 
the position he held, in and of itself, affords 
when occupied by a man of the very highest 
type in nature, in training, and in broad and 
generous Christian purpose. In weak hands 
the bow of Ulysses was but so much wood ! 
So in the hands of a weak or incompetent 
man, a self-seeker vain and noisy, a partisan 
prejudiced and ignorant, the splendid pos- 
sibilities of this position would be unre- 
alized. They would be utterly cast away, 
and worse ! 

Pennsylvania has been most fortunate in 
four or five of her State Superintendents. 
They were men wise to see, with courage to 
do, fertile in expedients, and of tireless 
energy — the men for the time. Dr. Higbee 
was "called " for his time, and he has left 
the impress of his thought and his unique 
personality upon the educational work of 
the State — in the minds and hearts of the 
teachers of the State and of those engaged 
in the work of general school supervision — 
more clear-cut, deep, and firm than that of 
any other who preceded him in his high office. 



PREACHER OF CHRISTIANITY. 

From a sermon by Rev. Mr. Kremer, 
preached in the Reformed Salem Church of 
Harrisburg, in memory of Rev. Dr. Higbee, 
we make the following extracts. The quo- 
tations are from Dr. Higbee : 

The religious experience of Dr. Higbee but 
intensified his liberality towards other religious 
bodies, growing out of the consciousness of the 
superior value of the spiritual over the natural. 
" Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, 
saith the Lord," was illustrated by his own con- 
version. A brilliant scholar, an athlete excel- 
ling in all manly sports, an artist, a musician, a' 
naturalist of no mean order, a critic in many 
departments of human attainments, a philoso- 
pher, he came to know that none of these 



PEACE WHICH "PASSETH UNDERSTANDING. 



could break the power of reigning sin, but that 
only through the blood of Christ could it be 
blotted out. Conscious as he could not help 
but be of his own superior scholarship over that 
of many among whom he dwelt, he came to ac- 
knowledge that he who by faith had responded 
to the presence of the unseen yet ever-present 
Son of God, however humble he might be, was 
master over him who with all his attainments 
was without Christ. He embraced the Re- 
deemer with all the ardor of his enthusiastic 
nature, and through the severe and needless 
trials which clouded a part of his life, it burnt 
with steady and brilliant flame. 

He dwelt much on the sorrows and agony of 
Christ, and bade us, "Hide yourself in the 
wounds of your Saviour." In reading the hymn 
Rock of Ages, he always said, however it might 
be printed in the book, "From thy riven side 
which flowed," and there is no doubt that at 
times the vision of his suffering Lord was as real 
to him as was that of Satan to Luther. The 
principalities and powers of sin were none the 
less real, and he felt that he who stood closest 
to his Lord must share His sorrow in the felt 
presence of sin and evil assaulting his soul. 
"We must expect the combined opposition of 
hell and earth." He said that there was great 
danger of not feeling the solemnity of the oppo- 
sition of the world and hell, and, while describ- 
ing their power over us, once said with great 
earnestness: "Beware of ligjit sins," at another 
time, "Sin is not necessary to the development 
of life," and after describing its power he said: 
"Hell is the end of the issue — and hell is not 
only something to come." Those who heard 
him preach on one occasion, will remember 
how he described the gathering of the eagles to 
the carcass, ending in an expression like this : 
Wherever the process of sin goes on, there are 
the destroying eagles ready to take the carcass. 
This consciousness of evil powers around us, 
intensified as it was by the words of the Apostle 
which he often quoted with great earnestness : ■ 
" For we wrestle not against flesh and blood," 
etc, made the sufferings and the Cross of 
Christ stand out in his preaching with startling 
realness ; sometimes we felt they were too real. 
But in thus presenting them we feel assured 
that it was the outburst of his own soul, in his 
intense earnestness, striving to grasp by faith in 
its fulness that sacrifice for human sin, which he 
was commissioned to declare to man. Who can 
tell how much of his own experience lay be- 
neath these vivid descriptions of the atoning 
sacrifice of Jesus? He was free to acknowledge 
that it is hard to believe ; but when we say this 
we must remember that with him faith was not 
merely acceptance, or the reception in any out- 
ward way of Him who stands at the door and 
knocks, but involved, with the full receiving of 
Christ, the full surrender to Christ. How he 
was wont to lop off for us, one after the other, 
the things of thought, or desire, or possession, 
which he saw, or thought he saw, interfered 
with our full surrender to Christ ! 

And yet, though his intensity rose almost to 
severity at times, how tender, how surpassingly 
tender when he spoke of the crucified Redeemer 



as the refuge of our sinful souls ! At a season 
of deep personal affliction, after the death of 
his daughter, he would let out his own soul in 
the class-room, yet without one word of him- 
self. In the day of his severe trial, while hold- 
ing public office in the State, to which it is pain- 
ful for me even to allude, the sufferings of his 
Lord were his comfort and stay. When I wrote 
him a word of sympathy, he said in his reply, 
" I never found the Cross of Christ so precious." 
Wounded and alas ! fearing that even his friends 
had deserted him, he came to have a fellowship 
in suffering with that One who was even for- 
saken by His God. And the cross which he 
had held up to sinful man, raising it above the 
strength and power of man and devils, exalting 
it above all the forces of mind and will, thank 
God ! now held him. " I never found the Cross 
of Christ so precious." Wounded and heavy- 
laden as he was, he entered as never before 
into the depths of the Redeemer's sorrows and 
of the Redeemer's love, and came forth with the 
marks of battle upon him, yet with the priceless 
treasure of which none could rob him, the peace 
of God which " passeth understanding." 

Possessing in so large a measure the powers 
of mind and will in which men trust, and yet 
knowing man's utter inability to save himself, 
he had a vivid sense of the superior importance 
of the objective in religion. When speaking of 
Thomas a Kempis or the mystics, his enthusiasm 
might be mistaken by some as indicative of a 
faith which rested more in the subjective. But 
they would soon be undeceived if they would 
but hear his sermons or his lectures. So deep 
was his conviction that it is by the Spirit of God 
that we are born again, that we are sanctified, 
that we are kept unto everlasting life, that we 
must be apprehended of Him before we can lay 
hold of Christ, that it ran through all his preach- 
ing. The shepherd going after the lost sheep; 
the woman sweeping diligently the house ; the 
father going out to bring in the prodigal — to 
mention these parables in connection with his 
name to any of Ur. Higbee's students, would 
be to call up at once the eloquent use he made 
of them, and the emphasis which he placed 
upon our being brought to see and feel the 
mystery of redeeming love, not as something to 
be brought to us from a distance, by our peni- 
tence and faith, but as something which is here 
waiting for us to take it and enjoy it. Of course 
every true preacher will hold the subjective and 
the objective in living union. The natural dis- 
position of the heart however tends to an 
emphasis on the subjective, which distorts if it 
does not in the end sever in our thought and 
worship, the true relation holding between the 
two. But this was not the case with the de- 
parted. " Grace is a living power which lays 
hold of us," he said in a communion sermon. 
Again, " The manifestation of grace makes us 
come to know the depths from which we have 
been delivered." No one who knew him, 
could imagine him saying: " escaped," in that 
connection, as though we delivered ourselves. 

It was this which made the Sacraments and 
the Word of God so real to him— they were part 
of that objective mystery by which he felt him- 



DR. E. E. HIGBEE; IN LOVING REMEMBRANCE. 



self to be continually surrounded. Faith makes 
the invisible visible, and the inaudible audible, 
is the substance if not the form of another of his 
expressions. Not in the sense in which the poet 
hears and sees, which he felt could be true of 
heathenism ; but the heavenly lifting up the 
earthly, so that we do not see and hear by an 
inner vision of our own, but as is given to us, 
in the face of Jesus Christ beholding the light 
of the Divine Glory. 

With him there was ever present this sense 
of that which was beyond himself, — an atmo- 
sphere of Divine grace, a kingdom of heavenly 
love, a living, personal, ever-present Lord and 



Saviour. Any one who failed to see this in his 
sermons, in his reverent reading of the Word, 
and especially in his prayers, failed to see and 
to know the man. Knowing, as all now know, 
the importance which he attached to culture, 
this emphasis which he placed upon the power 
of the Spirit becomes all the more significant. 
Speaking of the impossibility of man's redemp- 
tion from sin by education or culture, he said : 
" You might as well try to lift yourself by pull- 
ing on your own boot-straps." 

It is true he regarded education as being an 
end in itself. But this only in a relative sense, 
as over against the material philosophy which 



O'ER THE GRAVE VICTORIOUS. 

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E. E. HlGBEE, 1873. 

Claude Goudimel, 1560? 



[glorious ; 

1. Je - sus, o'er the grave victorious, Conqu'ring death, and conqu'ring hell, Reign Thou in Thy might all 

2. Down to earth in all its darkness From the Father Thou didst come; Seeking sinners in theii blindness, 

3. Pa - tient ever in well - doing, Moving on in steps of blood, Thro' the grave to heights of glory, 



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Heaven and earth Thy triumph swell. Saints in Thee approach the Father Asking in Thy name a- 
Call - ing earth's poor exiles home; By a life of love and labor Doing all the Father's 
Rec - on-cil-ing us with God. Here, in Thee, is peace forever; We can trib - u -la- tion 



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lone; He, in Thee, with love in- creas - ing, 
will; Giv - ing to each suppliant suf- f'rer 
bear; Kiss Thy cross, with rapture know - ing 



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Gives and glo - ri - fies the Son. 

Pre - cious balm for ev - 'ry ill. 

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makes education a means for the acquisition of 
earthly goods. He regarded it as but one step 
further in the folly of unbelief, to seek educa- 
tion for its own sake. " You never can find 
your completion in education. To the Christian 
education cannot be for its own sake. It must 
be for the sake of Christ. ' For ye are complete 
in Him.' ' Latin and Greek ye have always, 
but Me ye have not always.' " 

It is only when we view him as possessed of 
this broad, liberal-minded Christianity that we 
can have an adequate knowledge of his intense 
love for the Reformed Church. Recognizing 
the excellence of all other Christian bodies, 



keenly alive to the imperfections which mark 
the outward manifestations of our distinctive re- 
ligious life, he yet loved with an intense ardor 
the communion through whose ministrations he 
was brought to a full recognition and possession 
of the redeeming love of God through Jesus 
Christ. " I love the Reformed ministry," he 
once said. "Their gemuthlichkeit is beautiful." 
Time will not permit me to dwell on traits of 
his character, which made him so attractive to 
those who made his acquaintance, so lovable to 
those who knew him. You have read the beau- 
tiful tribute paid to his memory by the Governor 
of our State, and I cannot quote at length, as I 



SO HE PREACHED, AND SO HE TAUGHT. 



103 



should like to do, from what has been said in 
the daily press by those who knew him. 

I am not forgetful that this is a Sunday service, 
and that I am not here to praise a man, but to 
preach the Gospel. In speaking of him, we 
have endeavored to set him before you in some 
particulars as the Gospel apprehended him and 
as he apprehended it, and in doing so we have 
given you spiritual nourishment. We refrain 
from speaking of his public services as an officer 
of this great Commonwealth, except to say that 
while, as a minister and a professor, he be- 
longed to us in a peculiar sense, as Superin- 
tendent of Public Instruction he belonged to 



the whole State, and it is fitting for us as citizens 
and as Christians to rejoice in labors which 
honored the office no less than the office 
honored him. He has been called to a greater 
and nobler work on high. He is present with 
the Lord. How easy, as he would say, it is to 
sink over into the natural, rejecting everything 
that is supernatural. In our graveyards we see 
the broken column, the inverted torch — earthly 
signs, everything "from a crescent to a horse- 
shoe." How hard to believe that Christ is 
present — here. Oh let us believe it, and be- 
lieving it, we may know that he is not far from 
us. No inverted torch for him, for his light has 



THE WATER 



INTO WINE. 




I I I 

1. Thy glory Thou didst mani - fest, O Christ, by mir - a - cle divine. When, at Thy word, for 

2. What festal raptures fill our hearts When heaven and earth are married there ! What hope ,\v hat love, the 

3. Oh, Christ, unfold Thy quick'ning might From day to day, that all may see Within each saint, still 




I 

ev - 'ry guest The wa - ters spar - kled in - to wine; And now, in all the sons of men Who 
Lord imparts! What tender -ness and strength of prayer! For then within His glory glows; And 
beaming bright, Thy glo - ri - ous E - piph - a - ny; And find that best of wine at last, The 



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feel Thy Spirit's quick'ning breath, That miracle is wrought again, As life is kin - died out of death, 
gifts and graces all divine A - gain that miracle disclose Of wa - ter glo - ri - fied in wine 

sweetest gift of grace outpoured, Richer than Cana's humble feast, The marriage supper of the Lord. 




not gone out. He lives in Christ, and in Christ 
he lives forever. Oh, let us realize the presence 
of that heavenly kingdom which has come 
down to earth. This alone is worth living for, 
or rather without this all else is vain. " When 
you come to the bedside of the dying," he once 
said, " there will not be one thought of his edu- 
cation or whether he learned grace in the 
dancing-school, as you bend over him eager to 
catch the first accent of prayer." Is it not true? 
Valuable as grace and culture are, this is all im- 
portant — to be in Christ. In the Church, in the 
family, in the State, Christ was his all in all, the 
living centre of all truly sanctified life. He 



once pictured the slimy serpent insinuating him- 
self under the Presidential chair, to tempt the 
public servant of God, as he once tempted 
Christ by the offer of worldly rule ; and in the 
government as in the Church, fealty to Christ 
and to God as revealed in Christ, is the ruler's 
safety. In the family Christ is the centre. 
" We have the Saviour in spirit to be entertained 
in the family. If any one is sick, Christ must be 
sent for. If any need comfort after death, Christ 
must be sent for." So he preached, and so he 
taught. May his own dear ones be comforted 
by his message to others. And may she, who 
has been such an encouragement and example 



104 



DR. E. E. HIGBEE: IN LOVING REMEMBRANCE. 



of the true and faithful wife, from whose side he 
has been taken, find that strength to bear 
which was ever hers to minister ! 

And in death Christ was all in all. The dead 
fall asleep in Jesus. Death is their gain. Not 
simply because they are freed from sorrow, but 
because they are "forever with the Lord," and 
have come to a fuller vision of that glory and 
honor and blessing which was theirs through 
faith and hope, and which is theirs in undying 
love. " If we have buried our friends we can 
call them back to mind, and almost see them; 
but what is that to the mystery of their living in 
Jesus ! The dead come back to us crowned 
with lilies as being in Jesus." Here in Jesus 
we can leave our brother, — or, better yet, re- 
main in spiritual communion with him. Sharing 
his faith we can close with his words : " The 
comfort is here — ' asleep in Jesus.' I have un- 
bounded confidence and so can say, Farewell, 
brother. The tie is not broken, which grave 
and hell have no power to break. Amen." 



INTERMORTUUS. 

In the Memorial Number of Mercersburg 
College Monthly we find, from the pen of 
Rev. Dr. Geo. W. Aughinbaugh, President 
of Mercersburg College, the following very 
interesting account of the well-nigh fatal 
illness which left Dr. Higbee more or less 
an invalid during all the rest of his life. 
We cannot but recognize also the kind 
providence that spared his life — was it in 
answer to the prayers of his friends? — for 
forty years of such great work as it was per- 
mitted him to do for the benefit of his kind. 
Dr. Aughinbaugh writes: 

During the winter of 1850-51, Emmitsburg 
Maryland, was visited by a malignant type of 
typhoid fever. It made its appearance in the 
Fall of 1850, and remained with us until the 
following spring. A large number of persons, 
old and young, were prostrated by it, and not a 
few died. No one felt secure. A feeling of 
alarm and gloom pervaded the entire com- 
munity. " How are the sick?" and, "Are there 
any new cases?" were the questions propounded 
by neighbor to neighbor, when they met in the 
early morning. 

Dr. Higbee was among the first to take the 
disease. The attack appeared to be of a mild 
form, and yielded, as we all thought, to prompt 
medical treatment. In a few days he was out 
again, and seemed happy and cheerful as ever. 
But the disease was not eradicated from his 
system. A relapse followed, and he was again 
prostrated upon his bed — this time about the 
middle of November. It was the latter part of 
February before he ventured out of the house, 
then only the shadow of his former self, weigh- 
ing between eighty and ninety pounds. 

Never will the writer forget the night on which 
the disease reached its crisis. It was about ten 
days after his relapse. Approaching the doctor 
who had charge of the case, I asked him, "How 
is he, doctor?" He shook his head, and replied: 



" I fear it is only a question of a few hours' time 
with the poor fellow. I do not think he will 
survive the midnight. His pulse now, when I 
can count it, is 135, but most of the time it is so 
flurried that I can't count it. I would not be 
surprised if his heart were to burst at any 
moment." Then I asked the consulting 
physician what he thought of Elnathan's con- 
dition. He said: " I can see no ground of 
hope in his case, other than that there is hope as 
long as there is life. We will do all in our power 
to save him, and leave the result with God." 

A few of Dr. Higbee's friends withdrew to an 
adjoining room, and, kneeling at the throne of 
grace, humbly, earnestly prayed God to spare 
his life for future usefulness in the world. If 
ever that little group prayed fervently, and in a 
spirit of submission to the Divine will, it was on 
that sad occasion. Dr. H. was then in a comatose 
state, head thrown back, and unconscious of all 
that was going on around him. The writer 
asked Dr. Annan, the attending physician, 
whether it would be injurious to the patient to 
arouse him. " It will not," he replied, and then 
added: "But you can't arouse him. He may 
give you some unintelligible answers to your 
questions, and before you are aware of it fall 
into that heavy, log sleep in which he is now. 
If you can succeed in arousing him, and keep 
him awake for some time, it may do him good, 
and help him to outlive the disease. He is 
now rapidly approaching the end." Mrs. 
Harriet Motter, then his friend, now his sorrow- 
ing mother-in-law, took a position on one side 
of the bed, and the writer on the other. We 
were both familiar with the theological subjects 
in which Elnathan then, and to the day of his 
death, took a deep interest. To the surprise of 
all present, and to our own gratification, we 
succeeded in arousing him, and keeping him 
awake for nearly half an hour. He then re- 
lapsed into his former state, and with sorrow- 
ing hearts we left his bedside, feeling assured 
that the hour of his departure was near at hand. 
But God's ways are not our ways. Blisters 
were applied to his ankles, to draw the circula- 
tion, and his thoughts, toward his extremities, 
and in this way to keep him awake. Midnight 
came, and the patient was still alive. Soon 
after the turn of the night there was a favorable 
change. The crisis was passed, and, under 
God, the victory so far seemed to be on the side 
of the sufferer. At one o'clock in the morning, 
Dr. Annan, the physician in charge, left, say- 
ing, " I now have some hope of his recovery." 
Dr. Eichelberger, the consulting physician, 
kindly remained with us until four o'clock in 
the morning. 

But the end was not yet, either of anxiety on 
the part of friends or of danger to the patient. 
The battle for life was terrible. There was 
hardly vitality enough left on which to base the 
hope of ultimate recovery. The life of Dr. 
Higbee still trembled in the balance. He 
hadn't strength enough to move a foot without 
assistance, and needed constant care and atten- 
tion. It was necessary for some one to be at 
his bedside all the time. For full six weeks the 
writer never ventured to leave the room for rest 



HIS METHOD OF TEACHING LANGUAGE. 



105 



except on Saturday night, that he might be in 
better condition to attend to his pulpit duties on 
Sunday. But he and the kind friends who 
aided him in caring for our dear, departed 
brother, were fully repaid in the end, by seeing 
him restored to health and strength — and now 
unite with Church and State in mourning his 
loss. 

As is the case with all typhoid sufferers, when 
convalescent, Dr. H's appetite was ravenous. 
He couldn't get enough to eat, or rather we 
would not give him what he wanted. At times 
he would plead like a child for more. He com- 
plained of us to the doctor, and at the proper 
time the doctor told him that the quantity might 
be increased a little from day to day. This 
was good news. He had a string with which 
he measured the length, breadth and thickness 
of the toast brought to him, and if the pieces 
were not a little larger every meal, we were 
sure to hear of it. 

The kind friends who watched over Dr. Hig- 
bee, and cared for him when at the point of 
death, are proud of the record he has left and 
the good he has done. Of the little group who 
met in an adjoining room to pray for his recov- 
ery, on the night his life was despaired of, all 
are still living except his devoted sister. 



REMINISCENCES OF A YEAR IN THE LANCASTER 
HIGH SCHOOL. 

Among the few old letters which the junior 
editor of The School Journal has cared to 
preserve from the passing years — some writ- 
ten by friends now "gone over to the ma- 
jority," others by those in whom the touch- 
stone of time has been but a revealer of 
genuine qualities — is one hastily penned in 
acknowledgment of a holiday gift more than 
twenty-seven years ago: 

Lancaster, Jan'y 3, 1854. 
Mr. Jno. P. McCaskey, 

Dear Sir: Through you I would tender 
my warmest thanks to the scholars who have 
honored me with the Christmas present which 
I have received this day from the hands of Mr. 
Shober. I shall ever cherish this mark of 
friendship and esteem with feelings of grati- 
tude, the more so because the friendship of the 
young I especially prize. Hoping that our 
intercourse with each other may be beneficial 
and pleasant, and that the memory of it may 
be a source of delight in after years, I remain 
The sincere friend of you all, 

E. E. Higbee. 

This gentleman, who is the newly-ap- 
pointed State Superintendent of Public In- 
struction, was then in charge of the mathe- 
matical department of the Boys' High 
School of Lancaster city, where we boys all 
knew him as " Mr. Higbee," and that with 
abiding respect and affection. The writer 
of this article, whom Dr. H. may have quite 
forgotten, was not a very diligent student of 



text-books, but he was then unconsciously 
learning to listen to voices, to look into 
faces, and to gather definite impressions of 
people, less from what they said than from 
what they were. So that a man of forceful 
character or of generous soul, met for a year 
in the daily contact of the class-room, could 
never be forgotten ; and the impressions we 
have carried through all these years of Mr. 
Higbee are such as any teacher might be 
glad to leave upon the hearts of his pupils. 

Of the several instructors then employed 
in the school, he was the man who reached 
us with a grip of power, and apparently 
without thought or effort on his part to do 
this. To us boys he was a sort of "admir- 
able Crichton," able to do almost anything, 
from fencing, skating, sparring, and play- 
ing the flute, up to Latin, Greek, and 
Hebrew, and — what we had more respect 
for yet — all the mathematics ! He helped 
us select books for our society library, or- 
ganized at that time, and was always ready 
to answer our hard questions. His affability 
of manner, quick gesture, rapid movement, 
ready wit, constant disposition to oblige, 
and an utter lack of that dignified reserve 
which teachers sometimes affect, even more 
than his rare scholarship, made him an 
"authority" with us all; and when he left 
us there was no teacher to whom we would 
not more willingly have said good bye. 

A single class-room incident of this year, 
which we often recall with a pleasant sense 
of obligation — for it introduced us to the 
delightful study of the significance, the his- 
tory, and the hidden meanings of words — 
will illustrate his method of teaching 
language. He had the mathematical room, 
as has been said ; but on one occasion, in 
the absence of the principal of the school, 
he heard the Latin classes recite. We were 
reading Caesar's Commentaries. The de- 
fence of the Helvetians at their baggage- 
wagons was the subject of the lesson. He 
heard our dull rendering of the text, with a 
running fire of comments upon it, and then 
read for us. As he went into the precise 
meanings of the words in their derivation 
and use, tearing them to pieces, and — 
"suiting the action to the word," for of 
course he was standing — showed us how 
graphic was Caesar's description of the 
fight, we were at fever-heat of interest. 
We saw the hurtling javelins fly, and the 
fierce thrust of darts and spears between the 
wagon wheels, and felt the stubborn defence 
of the doomed Helvetians. 

One word in the lesson, subjiciebant, as 
with quick gesture he put meaning and de- 



io6 



DR. E. E. HIGBEE: IN LOVING REMEMBRANCE. 



rivation before us, gave us, with the vivid- 
ness of the lightning flash, a realizing sense 
of what is meant by etymology — a branch 
of study that, like the rich "lead" of the 
gold deposits, rewards the miner in propor- 
tion to the diligence with which he labors. 
We have since worked this ''lead" to some 
purpose and with much enjoyment — thanks, 
in great part, to the impulse given by Mr. 
Higbee in those old days — until able to feel 
with Dr. Holmes that "the poetry of words 
is quite as beautiful as that of sentences." 

From first to last the session was a good 
one, and to the now gray-haired man who 
contributed very much to make it so — his 
hair black enough when the note of " Janu- 
ary, '54," was written — many of the old 
boys are ready to say that it is as he had 
hoped : " The memory of it has been a 
source of delight in after years." 

We regard the State Superintendent who 
has just left the office as the Common School 
man of Pennsylvania — but change, like 
death, will come ; and coming, there is no 
man in the college work at whose good for- 
tune we are personally more glad than that 
of Dr. Higbee, our old-time teacher, to 
whom we have long felt so keen a sense of 
personal gratitude. May his administration 
be characterized by wisdom, energy, and 
discretion, and the ever-present purpose of 
" the greatest good to the greatest number." 
He stands at the threshold of the grandest 
work he has ever been called upon to per- 
form or direct — the most far-reaching in its 
influence for the general good. We believe 
that he will do it as in the Master's eye ; 
and may the guidance and the blessing of 
that Master whom he serves be with him 
through it all.— From Pennsylvania School 
journal for April, 188 1. 



THIRTIETH YEAR AND THIRD EDITOR. 

The first number of The Pennsylvania 
School journal was issued in January, 1852 ; 
that for the month of December, 1881, our 
next issue, will complete its thirtieth year, 
though not its thirtieth volume — the first vol- 
ume having been made to include eighteen, 
instead of twelve numbers. During that time 
there has been no break in the continuity 
of its monthly issues — so that the next will 
be its three hundredth and sixtieth number ; 
■ — there has been no change from its original 
form of double-column royal octavo pages, 
and there has also been but a single change 
in its editorial management. 

In its nineteenth volume Dr. Thos. H. 
Burrowes, its founder and first editor, laid 
down the pen after thirty-five years of such 



service in the field and at the desk as 
men have seldom rendered the cause of pop- 
ular education. For the period of eleven 
years, elapsed since that time, Dr. J. P. 
Wickersham has been its editor-in-chief. 
With what ability, good judgment, and 
thorough knowledge of the field, his work 
has been done, the volumes of The Journal 
year by year, bear noble witness. With the 
next number, Dr. E. E. Higbee succeeds to 
the editorship, having assumed charge of 
these columns in recognition of the fact that 
the Organ of the Department of Public In- 
struction should be under the direction of 
the Superintendent of said Department. 

As Dr. Wickersham was the worthy suc- 
cessor of the venerable Dr. Burrowes in the 
editorial management of The Journal, so in 
no less degree is Dr. Higbee, in his turn, a 
worthy successor of Dr. Wickersham. For, 
while he is a quiet man, of genial temper, 
who can tell a good story and enjoy a hearty 
laugh, and to whom mere glitter and parade 
are utterly distasteful, he is at the same 
time a man of intense energy, of great force 
of character, honest and fearless, an able 
writer, and a forcible and eloquent speaker. 
As to his scholarship : Among the forty 
thousand men and women — teachers, super- 
intendents and directors — engaged in the 
common school work in Pennsylvania, we 
have little doubt that he is the foremost 
scholar of them all. 

It seems fitting and desirable that some- 
thing be said to the readers of The Journal 
of the unusual attainments of its new editor 
in the realm of letters. It is also proper 
that the educational men of the State should 
know the breadth of scholarship of their 
official head and leader. Of this we can, 
from our own knowledge, speak only in a 
general way, and for more specific informa- 
tion, have therefore applied to those who are 
able to express an opinion from the stand- 
point of intimate personal acquaintance and 
thorough competency to form a correct 
judgment. Dr. Higbee is a modest man, 
and, did he know of this article, would 
doubtless disapprove it. But he does not 
know of it, and will be greatly surprised to 
see the following notes from his old co- 
workers in the field of letters, themselves 
among the foremost scholars in the State. 
That first given is from Dr. Thos. G. Apple, 
President of Franklin and Marshall College : 
Lancaster, Oct. 25th, 1881. 

Dear Sir : In reply to your note of this morn- 
ing, I would say that I regard Dr. E. E. Higbee 
as one of the first scholars in the State. His 
scholarship covers the whole ground of liberal 
and professional culture. He is an excellent 



THE WIDE RANGE OF HIS SCHOLARSHIP. 



107 



classical scholar, a good mathematician, and ac- 
quainted with German and French. His ac- 
quaintance with what are called the Natural 
Sciences is thorough, but not, I should say, as a 
specialist. In the department of History and 
Philosophy his attainments are far beyond ordi- 
nary scholarship. His abilities as a thinker, as 
well as his long experience in teaching, have 
made him a master in these departments. In 
Psychology, Ethics, ./Esthetics, and Metaphysics 
proper, including the history of Philosophy, he is 
entirely at home. My relations have been most 
intimate with Dr. Higbee for many years, and I 
regard him as an excellent scholar, and a good, 
strong thinker. His merits as a speaker are too 
well known to refer to them here, and I feel 
assured that the interests of public education in 
our great Commonwealth will receive the very 
best attention at his hands. 

Thos. G. Apple. 

The second is from Prof. Wm. M. Nevin, 
the venerable professor of English Literature 
and Belles-lettres, a very fine classical scholar 
and literary critic : 

Lancaster, Oct. 25th, 1881. 

Dear Sir: I have received your note of 
yesterday, asking for my estimate of the schol- 
arly attainments of Dr. E. E. Higbee, and 
what I regard his rank among the scholarly 
men of the state in the same lines of study that 
he has pursued. I am happy to say that I con- 
sider him to rank among the very first. He 
is a general scholar, of which others will bear 
you better witness ; but my own intercourse 
with him, which has been long and intimate, 
suiting himself when we met to my own par- 
tialities, has made me better acquainted with 
him as a man of fine literary taste and cul- 
ture. His familiar acquaintanceship with the 
classical authors whether of the ancient or of 
the modern world, whether of Greece, Italy or 
England, I have always admired ; and his keen 
appreciative or censuring remarks upon them I 
have always equally enjoyed. In his long 
course of giving instruction, whether in the high 
school or in the college, whether as professor or 
president, over whatsoever branch he was pre- 
siding, whether literary, scientific, or philosophi- 
cal, he had the happy faculty of presenting his 
themes in the most engaging manner, so as to 
elicit the students' continued attention, kindling 
by his own enthusiasm a corresponding interest 
in their breasts, carrying them thus along with 
him unwearied to the end. 

As editor of The Pennsylvania School Jour- 
nal, therefore, I deem him admirably qualified 
for preserving its acquired excellence, and ren- 
dering it, as heretofore, highly interesting, use- 
ful, and instructive. It could not have fallen 
into better hands, Yours truly, 

Wm. M. Nevin. 

A gentleman who has enjoyed advantages 
of scholastic training both in this country 
and abroad, and who has been intimately 
acquainted with Dr. Higbee and his work — 
a College professor of judicial cast of mind, 



conscientious in the expression of opinions, 
and in every way competent to speak upon 
the subject — writes us at length in reply to 
certain questions. We condense his letter 
into a single paragraph : 

In Latin and Greek Dr. Higbee is far ahead 
of most men who have given special attention 
to the study of the classic languages. If occa- 
sion required, he could write a good book in 
either, but especially in Latin, with little diffi- 
culty. For the purposes of study and investi- 
gation he reads Hebrew, German, French, and 
kindred Romance languages. In the whole 
field of English Literature, History, and Phil- 
osophy, he is thoroughly at home. His lectures 
on Ethics and /Esthetics evince the most care- 
ful study and the strength of his thought-power. 
In brief, as a classical and belletristic scholar, 
he has made extraordinary attainments. In 
Mathematics he excels. To different branches 
of Natural Science he has given attention suf- 
ficient to render him a working student and 
successful teacher in these directions, but not 
enough to merit rank as a specialist. His arti- 
cles in the Mercersburg Review will show you 
what he has done in the several departments of 
theological learning. He was at one time co- 
editor of that periodical with Dr. Thomas G. 
Apple, now President of Franklin and Marshall 
College. He has also been synodical editor of 
the Reformed Church Messenger. His whole 
work, indeed, has been of such a character as 
to challenge comparison with that of the best ; 
but because he has attained and mastered 
scholarship for its own sake, and not for any ex- 
traneous purposes such as reputation, popular- 
ity, etc., he is not now so well (widely) known as 
some whose learning is nearer the lips, but lack- 
ing in the substantial breadth and solidity of 
true culture. 

Dr. Higbee is also a gentleman of fine 
taste in art and music, so cultivated as to 
make him a judicious critic in these direc- 
tions. He is the author of several hymns 
that have found their way into the books. 
He is familiar with the best works of the 
leading novelists, with hearty admiration of 
Sir Walter Scott, whose masterpiece, " Ivan- 
hoe," in particular, he has read an almost 
incredible number of times, until it might 
fairly be said that he " knows it by heart." 
We like him all the better for this, and con- 
fess to a life-long preference for learned 
men who find recreation and delight in 
music, the drama, and the fascinating pages 
of the great masters of fiction. 

As State Superintendent, he has taken 
hold of his great work with that wise dis- 
cretion which was anticipated by his friends 
at the time of his appointment. We believe 
that his administration of the Department 
of Public Instruction will be characterized 
throughout by the same good judgment and 
careful regard for the interest of the Common 



io8 



DR. E. E. HIGBEE: IN LOVING REMEMBRANCE. 



School System. He has made friends every- 
where by personal contact with school men 
in various parts of the State ; and this arti- 
cle is written mainly that these men and 
others may have some more definite concep- 
tion of the many-sided scholarship, and the 
many-sided character, of him who stands at 
their head, in the direction of the important 
work in which all are alike interested. 

With the breadth of acquirement and 
maturity of judgment that have come 
through a life of intense intellectual activity, 
at heart he has, and must always have, the 
quick, fresh impulses of the boy. Nor is 
he more at home in the pulpit, on the plat- 
form, in the professor's chair, or at the 
editor's desk, than in the gymnasium or on 
the play-ground, in full sympathy with the 
lad that wears the gloves or takes the bar, 
catches the ball or swings the bat ; or, in 
the woods and by the streams, with him 
who climbs and runs and skates and swims. 
But of the attractive freshness of this feature 
of his character, and of his bearing and 
influence in the school room, as we knew it 
when a pupil in his classes, we have else- 
where spoken — in the April number of The 
Journal, at the time when he entered upon 
the duties of his present position. 

Above all, and more than all, Dr. Hig- 
bee is an earnest Christian, with an ever- 
present sense of whatever that full word im- 
plies of constant care and special guidance 
by the Providence who controls human 
affairs. He has long been a student of the 
Bible as of no other book — almost, indeed, 
as if it were the one book and there were no 
other. It is this type of broad men who are 
the best men. It is these men whose influence 
for good is longest felt in the sphere of 
labor to which they are "called" — men who 
look for and are guided by that " inward 
light" of whose existence more human be- 
ings than good George Fox and his disciples 
have made convincing proof. In a recent 
address to young men, Robert Collyer is 
credited with these remarks: 

I have said that the fourth thing in a man's 
life is that good fortune which is but another 
name for the good providence of God. 
"Friends" follow what they call an "inward 
light." This is the most pregnant truth you can 
take to your hearts. That " inward " light will 
be sure to shine in the supreme crisis of your 
life. Don't budge one step until you see it. 
Hang on until then to the thing you are doing, 
and do your best; but when it shines, don't 
argue or doubt or fear. Follow the light. 

On reading this paragraph a few days 
since, it seemed to present the views held 
by Dr. H. in relation to his work, be that 



what it might, and hence it is quoted in 
this connection. The first time we met 
him after his appointment as State Superin- 
tendent he seemed in no sense elated by 
the new dignity, but rather to take it as a 
matter of course in the providential dispen- 
sation of affairs. He said: "I was not 
looking for this. I thought Providence had 
something for me to do, and that it would 
come, but did not suppose that it would 
come in this shape. I will do the work as 
well as I can, and if I see that I cannot do 
it well, will resign the position at once." 

"As well he as can" will, we have little 
doubt, be good enough, to satisfy the best 
friends of the Common School System in 
all parts of the State. Upon the encour- 
agement and support of these men every- 
where he relies with confidence, and he will 
not rely in vain. 

We have written thus far con amore ; and 
our article has extended much beyond the 
limits originally designed. Having made 
"a clean breast of it," we are now ready to 
apologize to Dr. Higbee for the very free and 
unauthorized use we have made of his name. 
The only plea we offer in extenuation of the 
offence is, as we have already said, that the 
readers of The Journal should know its Edi- 
tor, and the State at large should know its 
Superintendent. — From Pennsylvania School 
Journal for November, 1881. 

FOUR YEARS AFTER. 

The resolution that was recently adopted 
at the closing session of one of our largest and 
most intelligent County Institutes, was in 
strict accord with the facts, in congratulat- 
ing Governor Pattison upon the re-appoint- 
ment of Dr. E. E Higbee to the office of 
State Superintendent of Public Instruction, 
because of "extraordinary qualities of fit- 
ness for the discharge of its high duties and 
responsibilities." 

Four years ago it seemed well to the 
present writer — who wrote then, as he does 
now, without the slightest knowledge or 
consent of the subject of this article — that 
some definite statement should be made as 
to the scholarly attainments and certain per- 
sonal characteristics of the gentlemen who 
had come, with quiet manner and compara- 
tively unknown, to direct the work of forty 
thousand men and women entrusted with 
the guardianship of a million children in 
their most sacred right of education — physi- 
cal, moral, intellectual, and, in a sense, 
spiritual. It was thought, as was then said, 
that "the State at large should know its 



BOYHOOD MASTERY OF A BOYHOOD ART. 



109 



Superintendent." Four years have passed 
since then, and the State does know its 
Superintendent. 

The advent of Dr. Higbee to the Superin- 
tendency was to many of our best school 
men an appointment of more than novel in- 
terest. They did not know the man, and 
could but await events with keen solicitude, 
which has gradually changed to personal 
regard and a high measure of confidence, as 
year by year has manifested how ripe the 
scholarship of this comparative stranger to 
our educational circles; how broad and 
mellow and luminous his skill as a teacher; 
how thorough and profound his knowledge 
of what the public schools, from the primary 
to the Normal grade need both in appli- 
ances and in the teaching art ; how clear 
his conceptions of duty as the chief of his 
great department ; how sound the ring of 
his utterances when discussing questions of 
school policy or suggesting lines of progress 
for legislative action — rising conspicuous 
among those about him, as he has always 
done whatever his field of labor, and brush- 
ing aside mere martinetism with the broad 
influence of general principles. 

The foremost scholar and probably the 
ablest man in the common school work, he 
has rapidly grown to be a welcome and 
familiar presence everywhere in Pennsyl- 
vania ; with warm greeting from hosts of 
friends because of personal good-will; and 
with an official record such as to merit the 
highest compliment possible to any State 
Superintendent of Public Instruction — that 
of re-appointment by an Executive of an 
opposite political faith, in deference to what 
he regarded a sense of duty to the Common- 
wealth. The situation was unique. Mere 
partisanship, however intelligent and de- 
voted to the public welfare, would neither 
have encouraged nor permitted what, in 
the opinion of Governor Pattison, the pub- 
lic good demanded, and what he had re- 
solved should be done in the best spirit of 
the new article in the advanced political 
creed — tenure of office and civil service re- 
form. Men said this would never be. Dr. 
Higbee neither asked for the position nor 
made effort to bring influence to bear that 
he might retain it, but quietly awaited the 
event, gratefully declining many offers of 
friendly aid while the appointment was 
pending. Not that he was at all indifferent 
as to the result, but he felt that he had been 
"called" ; the position had come without 
his seeking it ; if" his first term was to be his 
last — it was well. He was confident that 
the Governor would, in his discretion, do 



as seemed best in discharge of his official 
duty. 

Now that so many school men in all parts 
of Pennsylvania know Dr. Higbee, it has 
been thought that brief personal mention 
of fact or incident, casually referred to in 
the freedom of personal intercourse, and 
some statement of impressions fixed through 
years of intimate acquaintance, would be of 
especial interest in these columns. When we 
enjoy a man we want to know more about 
him, and yet more — all about him, if that 
were possible. 

His father, at one time a man of ample 
means, having by an ill-starred endorsement 
lost his property, it was early the good for- 
tune of the son to feel the necessity for self- 
dependence. 

In deference to the wishes of his mother, 
he declined a desirable appointment as cadet 
to the United States Military Academy at 
West Point — turning aside from a branch of 
the national service for which he seemed es- 
pecially fitted from his ardent love of adven- 
ture, his great strength and skill in all 
athletic sports, his fearless energy, good 
judgment, fine social qualities, rare mental 
gifts, and the ready command of all his 
powers at any moment. Had he entered 
the army thirty five years ago, and studied 
the science and art of war as he has since 
devoted himself to the sciences and arts of 
peace, he would, doubtless, long ere this have 
attained high militaty rank and reputation. 

Instead of West Point, he entered the 
University of Vermont, where, at the same 
time that he was recogn ized as one of the most 
gifted students in the class-room or on the 
platform, he became known as champion 
football player of New England as well as 
one of her champion wrestlers, having in 
his college days encountered but one man — 
and he a Canadian of firm-set limb and 
mighty strength of loins — whom he could 
not put down and keep down in this good- 
natured test of bodily skill and strength and 
endurance. A good wrestler must be 
"good" all over, and weak nowhere. He 
was also a famous cricketer, until a finger 
broken by the ball compelled him to forego 
the vigorous game. 

On a recent visit of his brother from the 
Pacific coast, a few months ago, the latter 
inquired whether he remembered how he 
(Dr. H.) had learned to skate, saying that 
it had impressed him as a remarkable thing 
at the time, and that he had often thought 
of it since. We mention the incident here 
as illustrating his boyhood mastery of a boy- 
hood art, as perhaps not another lad in ten 



DR. E. E. HIGBEE : IN LOVING REMEMBRANCE. 



thousand has acquired it. The boy had 
buckled on his skates for the first time, but 
had hardly got upon the ice before a sudden 
and stunning fall put an end to his anticipa- 
tions of sport. He promptly took them off, 
and could not be induced to put them on 
again during the winter. Ice coming again 
with the next winter, he went out with the 
boys as before, put on the skates a second 
time, and glided away from everybody — a 
skillful master of the art ! Between his fall 
and the second time he buckled on the 
skates, he had become a skillful skater — not 
on, but off the ice ! The boy had thought it 
out. Going along the road to school dur- 
ing the summer — anywhere, everywhere — 
without a word on the subject to anybody, 
the lad was trying the slide, studying it, 
until he had mastered its theory and the 
concept was clear. Then much of the 
strength and skill acquired in other direc- 
tions here came into play, and he led the 
lively company many a merry chase. 

Hunting with shot-gun or rifle among the 
Green Mountains ; fishing in the streams 
and lakes; living in the woods, under the 
trees, in the shadow of the rocks, or be- 
neath the open sky ; at home in marshes and 
meadows — the eagerly observant student of 
birds and beasts and fishes, trees and plants 
and flowers, clouds and sky and stars, nat- 
ural appearances and phenomena in mani- 
fold variety — he early acquired that love of 
nature in her ten thousand phases and ob- 
jects of interest, which gives so much of 
added charm to his conversation, to his plat- 
form addresses, and to all his literary work. 

Some years since, at the corporation din- 
ner at Burlington, Vermont — which is given 
by the city corporation on graduation day 
to the University and its alumni — at the 
right and left of President Buckham of the 
University sat Dr. McCosh, President of 
Princeton College, and Dr. Higbee, Pres- 
ident of Mercersburg Theological Seminary. 
After Dr. McCosh had been introduced and 
had made his speech, the President in intro- 
ducing Dr. Higbee, remarked, " The last 
time I saw him was many years ago, on the 
campus behind the University. It was on 
the day when his class graduated. He had 
the foot-ball in his hand, as he shouted, 
' Here goes for the last kick ! ' The records 
of the University show that the ball went 
over the four-story building, three feet 
higher than it was ever kicked before or 
since!" 

This "muscular" introduction — worthy 
the prowess of a brilliant Eton or Harrow 
or Rugby boy, come back to an alumni 



dinner at Oxford, with honored laurels won 
in other fields — was, of course, greeted with 
generous applause. The triumphs of the 
playground, the campus, the cricket or the 
diamond field, we can all appreciate ; and 
with them the brightest minds have keenest 
sympathy. 

On the same day, immediately after his 
graduation, he was offered a most desirable 
position in the office of one of the leading 
lawyers of Vermont, a gentleman in posses- 
sion of a large and lucrative practice, which 
he wished to leave in the hands of an able 
successor. Had he accepted this promising 
offer, he would, no doubt, have become 
known as a lawyer of profound learning, 
and as an eminently successful advocate of 
splendid forensic ability. His gifts as a 
public speaker, his mastery of statecraft, 
and the fiery energy of argument, or appeal, 
or denunciation, which would then have 
been cultivated rather than repressed — am- 
bition lending its sharp spur to his intent — 
would have made him known prominently 
in the political arena of struggle and prefer- 
ment, during the memorable era of the past 
thirty years. 

But he turned resolutely from all this to the 
higher life of the teacher-student, of college 
professor and president ; to the quiet round 
of clerical duty — so often a life of actual 
privation — accepting whatever of duty or 
obligation a wise Providence might have in 
store. And well was that choice made. As 
a clergyman, his rank is undisputed as one 
of the foremost divines in the Reformed 
Church of the United States. He has 
preached thousands of able discourses, yet 
has in his possession but a few sermons 
completely written out, being exceedingly 
impatient of manuscript, seldom caring to 
re-read a paper or to repeat an address — 
though at the same time very careful, pains- 
taking and accurate in the preparation of 
any formal paper or official report, for illus- 
tration of which the reader is referred to 
his annual reports as Superintendent of 
Public Instruction. 

In the field of instruction, his rank is 
simply extraordinary. Men skilled in spe- 
cialties say of him, "Dr. Higbee should 
teach nothing but Greek," — "Dr. Higbee 
should never teach anything but Latin" — 
"nothing but Philosophy of History" — 
"nothing but English Literature" — "noth- 
ing but Church History and Exegesis" — 
"nothing but Mathematics" — in fact, noth- 
ing but the specialty in which he happens, 
for any length of time, to be giving instruc- 
tion, because in it he has become so able a 



ACQUAINTANCE WITH THE GREAT AND GOOD. 



master. So thorough is his acquaintance 
with these varied lines of study and research 
that he turns, at times, for relaxation and 
pleasure, to the calculus in mathematics, or 
to the Greek comedy in the original for the 
enjoyment it affords. 

As chairman of the general committee on 
music and the revision of the hymnal of the 
Reformed Church some years ago — with his 
accustomed broad-gauge thoroughness, in 
order that the work might be as well done 
as possible — he made a collection of hymn- 
ology, mediaeval and modern — Latin, Ger- 
man and English — which is spoken of by 
those competent to form a reliable judg- 
ment, as probably the most complete to be 
found anywhere in Pennsylvania. Had he 
devoted his life to Music or Painting, he 
would have been a master in either direc- 
tion, the work that he has done as an ama- 
teur being sufficient evidence of this. 

For an ordinary lifetime he has been on 
the footing of acquaintance, more and more 
familiar as the years have passed,, with the 
master spirits of all the ages of history — 
kings whose brows are encircled not with 
shifting metal crowns but with the aureola 
of immortality; who rule by divine right in 
the realm of the intellect and in that sphere 
higher yet, the empire of the heart ; whose 
voices speak to all succeeding generations; 
whose thought has challenged and quickened 
the thought of all great thinkers since their 
time. He is as familiar with Socrates as 
with Luther; with St. Paul as with Milton; 
with Aristophanes as with Shakespeare; 
with Chaucer as with Longfellow or Tenny- 
son. He knows, as Lord Macaulay did, with 
a rich fullness of personal experience, "the 
feeling which a man of liberal education 
naturally entertains towards the great minds 
of former ages," and this is constantly man- 
ifesting itself in his addresses and reports. 
More than any other man we know, "they 
have filled his mind with noble and graceful 
images." 

Many of his pupils speak of him as a man 
with the gift or power of inspiring in them 
a new and nobler enthusiasm, such as no 
other man could arouse. We have heard 
our most earnest Superintendents and Prin- 
cipals of Normal Schools, as well as teachers, 
say this of him in the work he is endeavor- 
ing to do in the State. Built firmly into 
the development of the mind, his work tells 
mightily in the life of the soul. 

The secret of his power lies in the fact 
that he lives constantly in two worlds — the 
spiritual, invisible to the eye of sense, being 
ever the substantial ; and the material, upon 



which we tread and with which we are in 
contact on every side, ever the fleeting. For 
him the past and the future are always the 
present. In habit of thought like this, life 
is forever lifted out of the sphere of the 
commonplace — quite apart from the dollar- 
and-cent struggle for power and gain — into 
that altitude where the " strength of the 
hills" is attained, and the higher air is 
breathed. From that high sphere radiate 
none but influences for good to the race. It 
is here alone that lofty souls may stand upon 
the very Mount of Vision, sending down, 
with clarion voice of assured confidence, to 
those below, the call of the ages, " Come up 
higher." 

As already said, we have never known an- 
other man who seemed on terms of such in- 
timate personal acquaintance with the great 
and good men of all ages. He is of the very 
brotherhood of genius ! We have never 
known personally a man so many-sided, or 
capable of high-grade work on so many lines 
of effort — or another man of whom such an 
article as this could be written. He will, of 
course, say on reading it that it is not true 
of him / Modest disclaimer by a man of 
merit is ever comely, and generous self- 
negation delightful; but the witness is here 
ruled out of court. What is written must 
stand. We believe it — and the present 
seems a case in which it is not best to wait 
until a man is dead before the many may 
learn facts well known to the few. 

Ex-State Supt. Hickok, who, from the 
quiet seclusion of his home in Philadelphia, 
still manifests a sympathetic interest in the 
cause to which he gave the best years of his 
life under very trying circumstances, has in- 
cidentally touched this subject from his own 
point of view, in reply to a private letter 
written shortly after the appointment of Dr. 
Higbee for a second term. Though pub- 
lished so late as perhaps to have lost some 
of its point, it possesses an interest that will 
attract attention among school men. We 
put the letter into type as deserving to be- 
come a part of the permanent record of the 
present situation in our school affairs, from 
the standpoint of a veteran observer : 

Dear Sir, * * * Yes, certainly ! I do agree 
with you that the public is to be congratulated 
on Dr. Higbee's re-appointment. It could not 
well be otherwise on educational grounds, and 
Governor Pattison deserves great credit for saga- 
city and resolute purpose in that regard. It is 
no disparagement to other aspirants for that 
conspicuous post of duty, no matter what their 
abilities, that one so well equipped for the work, 
in technical details as well as in its higher as- 
pects, and so unselfishly devoted to its interests, 



DR. E. E. BIG BEE: IN LOVING REMEMBRANCE. 



should be continued where his usefulness would 
be more than doubled because of the fruitful ex- 
periences of his first arduous term of service. 
So far as he is personally concerned, if he had 
been retired now instead of continued, he could 
safely rest his official reputation upon his last an- 
nual report, one of the soundest, best documents 
that have emanated from that Department, and 
very timely and conclusive in its suggestions. It 
shows that he has passed the stage of investiga- 
tion into the scope and tendencies of our some- 
what peculiar school system, which, as a stranger 
to its organization and history, he had first to 
make, and writes now with the confidence of 
settled convictions as to what its future should 
be. That the Legislature may not, and probably 
will not, at once endorse all of his recommenda- 
tions, proves nothing against their soundness. 
He is not the first Superintendent who has had 
to wait a decade or score of years for theories to 
crystallize into enactments. But they come in 
time, in one shape or other. Festina lente has 
always been a controlling influence in our school 
movements, whether we liked it or not; and he 
is a wise man who recognizes that fact, and 
tempers zeal with patience. Both are necessary, 
and in no stinted measure. It is a cause that 
requires a long look ahead. A Superintendent 
who is not in advance of public sentiment, as 
well as fully abreast of the times, would be out 
of place in that Department. The title of that 
office — Superintendent of Public Instruction — 
means a great deal more than the routine work 
of the elementary schools, important and ener- 
getic though that must be; and true though it be 
that the school- room and not the School Depart- 
ment is the objective point of our school system. 

The Doctor's re-appointment vindicates anew 
the forecast and equilibrium of the Act of 1857, 
creating a separate school department, which 
holds each successive Governor as a moral host- 
age for the right management of our school sys- 
tem, through the responsibility centered upon 
him of selecting its chief administrative officer, 
after he has had nearly the whole of his guber- 
natorial term to officially estimate men and meas- 
ures, and thus act advisedly near the close of his 
term, instead of hastily and under political press- 
ure at its beginning. The door being open for 
a change after an unprecedented continuance 
under one head, itself one of the results of that 
act, Governor Hoyt did himself special credit, at 
this stage of our school affairs, by going into the 
ranks of the clergy for a successor, and assuring 
himself from the highest learned authorities that 
the right candidate had been presented. Clergy- 
men are educators by virtue of their profession, 
and this nomination was only reviving the early 
traditions of the Commonwealth, when the edu- 
cation of youth, especially in its higher phases, 
was almost entirely in their hands, and they 
were looked up to with reverence as the high- 
est authority in the educational world. There 
were giants among them, and they left a posi- 
tive impress upon their times. 

From 1834 to 1881, all of our State Superin- 
tendents were lawyers except three, and of the 
latter two were professional teachers and one a 
practical man of affairs. We had many estima- 



ble clergymen in the County Superintendency, 
and in the School Boards, but until 1881 no 
one of their cloth was placed in supreme com- 
mand of our Common School system. Now 
"turn about is fair play," and it seems to me 
that it was a wise and good thing to let our 
reverend friends get a foothold on the quarter- 
deck at last. We shall be the better for it ; all 
the more so when coupled with special qualifi- 
cations, as in the present case. Dr. Higbee's 
simple presence in the School Department as a 
clergyman, disarms and neutralizes the un- 
founded but tenacious prejudice that still existed 
against the common schools as "godless" and 
demoralizing, and his official testimony proves 
it to be groundless. We know that they level 
up, not down. In some localities, the only idea 
of order and discipline, good manners, good 
principles, respect for authority, that children 
get, they get in the common schools. The 
clamor referred to has died out, and under 
clerical leadership we have more than ever for 
the schools the sympathy and friendly influence 
of the churches, which is so pervading and pow- 
erful, and whose co-operation, but not interfer- 
ence, is so desirable. Christianity, like the air 
we breathe and the sunlight that blesses us, is 
a diffused and subtle atmosphere, that bears 
healing on its wings far beyond sectarian lines, 
and through the spiritual sense can be felt like 
an intangible but positive presence in all educa- 
tional work. 

Genial and broad-minded, Dr. Higbee is and 
cannot fail to be popular, his usefulness steadily 
growing with ripening experience. With Mac- 
Alister in Philadelphia regenerating the First 
School District, and himself in the School De- 
partment with its comprehensive jurisdiction, 
the educational interests of Pennsylvania were 
never in better or safer hands than now, and 
we have a right to cherish " great expectations" 
as to ultimate results. 

Respectfully, 

Phila.,June 6, 1885. H. C. HlCKOK. 



THANKFUL TO HAVE KNOWN HIM. 

Dr. Higbee was to me a very near and a 
very dear friend. I learned to love him 
many years ago. And it has been one of 
the high privileges of my life, for which I 
am deeply thankful to Providence, to have 
known him and to have been admitted into 
the circle of his warm friendships. Many a 
time did he in his cordial, whole-souled 
way give me assurance of this. Never will 
I forget the affectionate grasp of his hand 
at the last meeting of the Potomac Synod at 
Carlisle. It could not be otherwise, then, 
but that his death came to me as a personal 
bereavement. The circle of close friend- 
ships grows smaller and smaller as one grows 
old, and as one after another is called away 
by death, a sense of desolation comes over 
the soul. 

It was my privilege to learn to know Dr. 



THE Y SA W HIM END I RE WITH HEROIC FORTITUDE. 



n 



Higbee when he was yet almost a boy, fresh 
from his New England home. I was at 
once impressed with the vigor and keenness 
of his mind. I was surprised to discover 
his s>mpathy with the order of thought in 
which we had been trained by Dr. Nevin. 
For this he was indebted, as he told me, to 
Prof. Torrey, of the University of Vermont. 
But it was not long before these early im- 
pressions were confirmed and greatly en- 
larged. Dr. Higbee was far more tlian an 
ordinary man. In breadth and depth and 
strength of mind in all its activities ; in 
scholastic equipment, both as to thorough- 
ness and width of scope : in character as to 
unflinching integrity, devotion to principle 
and depth of religious life, he had few equals 
and still fewer superiors. He was such a man 
as, take him all in all, we very seldom meet. 

In social life he was a genial, heartsome 
companion. Unlike many thoughtful stu- 
dents and learned scholars, he could unbend 
in the society of his associates, and with a 
keen relish for wit and anecdote, he could 
enter with youthful zest into their pleasures 
and enjoyments. His contagious laugh is no 
doubt still ringing in the memory of his 
sorrowing associates. 

Of Dr. Higbee as a scholar, I need not 
speak. Of his unusual ripeness in this re- 
gard, his fame is throughout the land. The 
most surprising characteristic of his learning 
was that he excelled in so many different 
departments. It was exceptionally broad 
and full. 

Neither need I speak of him as an educa- 
tor. The Church and the State are equally 
enthusiastic in bearing testimony as to his 
remarkable efficiency. 

But of him as a preacher of the Gospel 
I may say a word. As such he was unques- 
tionably an exception. To say that he was 
brilliant, does not describe him : for many 
a brilliant preacher is wanting in power to 
instruct, to inspire solemn thought, and 
especially to stir the deep fountains of de- 
votion and 'religious life. His surprising 
fund of information gathered from the 
whole realm of nature and man ; his unusual 
clearness of conception ; his vivid imagina- 
tion blazing into poetic imagery; his won- 
derful power of clear and sharp-cut ex- 
pression of thought, combined with an 
admirable rhetoric, and native, whole-souled 
oratory, gave him a power to hold and sway 
an audience, which but very few possess. 

But when added to all these rare qualities 
and endowments, we recollect his unwaver- 
ing and soul absorbing faith in the God- 
man, as the alpha and omega, the centre 



and the circumference of all things human 
and divine, and the impassioned spiritual 
fervor which blazed forth in his language, 
his manner, indeed from his whole person, 
it is no wonder that he was a holy inspira- 
tion to the attentive listener. And dull was 
the intellect and cold the heart which was 
not benefited by his wonderful sermons. 
Even in private conversation upon his con- 
genial philosophical and theological topics, 
his admirable powers and enthusiasm would 
blaze forth. And many were the seed- 
thoughts gathered and treasured up to this 
day by his sad and loving friends. To no 
one man, except my most honored teacher, 
Dr. Nevin, do I feel myself more deeply in- 
debted in this regard than to my dear 
friend Dr. Higbee. 

But he is gone. To those of us, how- 
ever, who are marching a little space be- 
hind him towards the Heavenly World, it 
comes with the inspiration of gladness, the 
faith, that the holy ties which death for a 
while seems to sever, will be reknit over 
there, to be sundered nevermore. — Rev. Dr. 
S. N. Cai lender, Mount Crawford, Va. 



HOSTS OF FRIENDS WERE OUTRAGED. 

Hosts of friends were outraged in the fury 
of persecution to which, for many months, 
Dr. E. E. Higbee was subjected because of 
his proper but — as the sequel showed — im ■ 
politic method of administering the civil 
service in the office of the Department of 
Soldiers' Orphan Schools. They knew what 
a trifling matter had thrown wide open the 
flood gates of calumny, namely, unwilling- 
ness to appoint an unskilled man as chief 
clerk, in the vain hope that the Governor 
would consent to his appointment as financial 
clerk. They saw with amazement a well- 
organized and patriotic charity represented 
in such odious coloring that what had been 
the pride was made to appear the shame of 
Pennsylvania. They knew, beyond all doubt 
or question, that it was done not to redress 
wrong, but to wreak vengeance upon an up- 
right man by wrecking his reputation and 
driving him from office humiliated and dis- 
graced. With the keenest interest, as though 
themselves beset by a relentless foe, they 
watched the progress of this campaign of 
vilification and falsehood, unexampled in 
the educational or humanitarian history of 
the State. 

They saw this man endure with heroic 
fortitude — for months, when struggle would 
have been of no avail ; but also fight gallantly 
for the truth with all the courage and skill of 



DR. E. E. LIC BEE: IN LOVING REMEMBRANCE. 



the trained soldier when the hour was come 
for battle. Twice they saw him break the 
line of the enemy where it was reckoned 
strongest, each time spiking effectually his 
noisiest guns — in articles which appear in 
issues of School Journal for April and May, 
1886; and again in his crushing reply to In- 
spector Wagner in the issue for June, 1887. 
They then saw an ex parte investigation, con- 
ducted wholly in the interest of the enemy, 
with slanderous reports emanating almost 
daily from the hostile camp, and spread far 
and wide by the telegraph and through the 
columns of scores of the newspaper press, by 
many of whose editors they were innocently 
accepted and published as the truth. They 
saw the sentiment of the great mass of the 
reading public harden cruelly upon the side 
of wrong, and those who were not familiar 
with the exact situation at Harrisburg 
awaited with some degree of apprehension 
the final assault. 

But it never came, not because of any- 
thing done by Dr. Higbee — for he was most 
desirous that any charges made should be 
investigated in a court of justice — but for the 
reason, as his persecutors very well knew 
from the beginning, that there was no 
" case," nor ever had been ! We touch this 
painful subject very briefly, and quote from 
a resume of the whole matter in the March 
No. 1888, of the Pennsylvania School Jour- 
nal, in which the outcome of this miserable 
business is summed up as follows : 

And what profitable result has followed to the 
schools from all this wide-spread and villainous 
story of fraud and mismanagement ? In a few 
directions, no doubt, there has been slight im- 
provement — such as might naturally be ex- 
pected in good schools subjected to so much 
adverse criticism — all of which could have been 
effected by a few quiet words ; while in other 
directions the results were discontent, distrust, 
and demoralization, some of which has not even 
yet disappeared. So that the schools, as a whole, 
are little, if at all, better than they were when 
the "investigation " was entered upon some two 
years ago. They were good schools then — as 
they are now — the children being all the while, 
before and since, well clothed, well taught, well 
fed, well cared for in every respect. Every- 
where will be found the same buildings, with the 
same sanitary arrangements ; the same teachers, 
with the same course of school-room training; 
the same physicians, with the same careful and 
systematic inspection of the pupils ; the same at- 
tendants, the same school arrangements, and 
the same general rules for direction and govern- 
ment, subject of course to ordinary changes 
which time must naturally bring about. 
* * * * 

This article would not be complete with- 
out reference to certain personal qualities 



that have been grossly misrepresented. In- 
stead of being the "dyspeptic parson," with 
teeth on edge, which some newspapers have 
persistently pictured him, he is one of the 
busiest and happiest of men, observing nat- 
urally Mr. Beecher's three rules of health : 
"Eat well, sleep well, and laugh well," and 
without a trace of dyspepsia, mental or 
physical. We know no man who tells an 
apt story with better zest, or laughs over it 
more heartily. The " merry men " of Sher- 
wood Forest would have welcomed him with 
open arms to their merry company; and he 
would have been no unworthy member of 
the famed society that held its meetings at 
the Mermaid Tavern, where Beaumont and 
Fletcher, "gentle Will" and "rare Ben 
Jonson," came together, with other kin- 
dred spirits, each contributing his share to 
the brilliancy of conversation of those as- 
sembled wits and good fellows. 

" What things we have seen 
Done at the Mermaid ! heard words that have been 
So nimble, and so full of subtle flame, 
As if that every one from whom they came 
Had meant to put his whole wit in a jest." 

So run Beaumont's lines, and in just such 
company would this man Higbee be most 
at home, for he knows and delights in the 
dramas of Shakespeare and the contemporary 
writers of his era as not another man in tens 
of thousands can. Dyspepsia ! He is one 
of the gladdest souls that breathe vital air 
and revel in the sunlight. 

As has been said at some length elsewhere 
in this article, Dr. Higbee is an extraordinary 
man in many directions, but especially in 
such as require skill in combination for 
weight or brilliancy of result. Illustrating 
this his skill in chess may be cited, for during 
his later college and clerical life he was a 
recognized master of this fascinating game, 
and many a confident player of local repu- 
tation has come to grief contesting with him 
the mimic field. 

Physically, he is a man of tough, wiry 
constitution, with great power of endurance, 
and wholly equal to the arduous duties of the 
two important positions which he occupies. 
Though, of course, past the climax of phys- 
ical strength, if necessity arose he could, as 
of old, strike a blow like a sledge-hammer, 
with the quickness of thought and the pre- 
cision of the skilled boxer. When the In- 
stitute season or that of examination and 
visitation of Normal and Orphan Schools is 
on, he travels continuously by day and night, 
working and speaking all the while, with 
frequent sermons on Sunday, at times 
preaching twice in one day — and this for 



INCIDENT OF THE GETTYSBURG CAMPAIGN. 



"5 



weeks together, coming out of his busy 
campaign strong and vigorous. 

The only physical ailments to which he 
has any predisposition, are pneumonia from 
exposure to cold, nervous stricture of the 
muscles of breathing which results from oc- 
casional asthmatic trouble, and an annually 
recurring hay- fever annoyance — neither nor 
all of which have in any sense prevented the 
full and complete discharge of the varied 
and important duties devolving upon him 
as Superintendent. 

What was designed to crush him, and 
would have crushed a weaker official, has 
but given him new strength, and made more 
evident the granite temper of his mind and 
the steel-like quality of his endurance. His 
numerous friends have been more outraged 
than even himself at the unremitting efforts 
which have been made to destroy the repu- 
tation, to belittle the character and work, 
and if possible, to bring into popular con- 
tempt, the ripest scholar and one of the very 
ablest and best men, who has ever held office 
as Superintendent of Public Instruction in 
Pennsylvania. And this article is published 
as an indirect reply to the attacks of men 
brutal in instinct or such as ' ' know not what 
they do." A pleasing incident in this con- 
nection, and one that has but recently come 
to our knowledge is very significant. Neither 
of the eminent lawyers, George F. Baer, 
Esq., of Reading, or Hon. John Stewart, of 
Chambersburg, whom Dr. Higbee retained 
as counsel in the "late unpleasantness," 
would accept pay for his legal advice and 
services. They felt and said that the satis- 
faction of having rendered assistance to a 
friend in so just a cause was an all-sufficient 
reward. — From Pennsylvania School Journal 
for July, 1887. 



REMINISCENCE OF DR. HIGBEE. 

The following is from the pen of R.ev. Dr. 
W. S. Alexander, Pastor of the North 
Avenue Congregational church, Cambridge, 
Massachusetts. Dr. Alexander so much re- 
sembles Dr. Higbee in appearance that, on 
a recent visit to the family of the latter in 
Lancaster, a bright little grandson and name- 
sake, to whom Dr. H. was much attached, 
addressed him at once as "Grandpa," 
brought him his toys, and was very glad to 
see him. When Dr. A. went away, little 
Elnathan said that Grandpa had "gone 
back to Heaven again ! " 

My heart has been greatly saddened by the 
intelligence of the death of Dr. Higbee, which 
did not reach me until my arrival in Philadel- 
phia a few days ago. I formed his acquaint- 



ance under peculiar circumstances just after the 
battle of Gettysburg. The circumstances of our 
first meeting endeared him to me, and bound 
him to me by the strongest bonds. My first 
hour with him was a precious revelation of his 
tender and Christ-like nature. 

I was in Gettysburg as a delegate of the 
Christian Commission. While I was taking my 
supper in a house where I had sought enter- 
ment the evening after the battle, two officers, 
one a Lieutenant Colonel and the other a Major 
in Sickles' Brigade, knocked at the door, and 
demanded supper. They were both brutally 
drunk. The married daughter, soon to become 
a mother, was in the room. The Major ap- 
proached her and outrageously insulted her. I 
told him to desist and let the woman alone. He 
turned upon me with all the fury of a drunken 
man, struck me upon the head with his sword, 
cutting to the skull, and ran his sword into my 
thigh. He tried to drag me into a back alley 
way, with the evident purpose of killing me. I 
was rescued by the Captain of an Indiana com- 
pany and taken to the headquarters of General 
Cutler. The drunken officers followed. Gen- 
eral Cutler took in the situation at once, ordered 
the men to the guard-house, and kindly asked 
me to share his tent for the night. 

In the morning about 3 o'clock, General 
James Wadsworth sent for me, asked me to 
breakfast with him, and said he was ordered 
to march at 4 o'clock that morning, and if I 
would go with him he would at the first halt 
summon a drumhead court-martial and try my 
assailants. I was put upon the Major's horse, 
and the Major and Lieutenant Colonel, who 
had slept off their drunk, marched behind our 
horses in the deep mud. As we approached 
Emmitsburg, General Wadsworth said to me, 
" We are on a forced march, and I do not know 
when we can halt. You are exhausted from 
the loss of blood and unable to go further; I 
will send you into Emmitsburg, and from there 
you can make your way to Baltimore, and we 
will court-martial these men at the earliest pos- 
sible moment." 

When I dismounted from my horse in the 
outskirts of Emmitsburg, I was lame and sick. 
My hair was matted with blood from my wound, 
and it goes without saying that I was cheerless 
and disheartened. It was the darkest hour in 
my life. I watched the men, civilians and 
soldiers, as they passed me. My eye fell upon 
a man whose face attracted me. I approached 
him and asked him if he was a minister. He 
said, " I am." I told him the story. He said, 
"You have spoken to the right man. Come 
with me." On the way he called a physician, 
and then took me to the house of his father-in- 
law, Mr. Joshua Motter. There I was welcomed 
by the entire household. Had they been 
dressed in angelic robes their great kindness 
could not have impressed me more deeply. 

That home was mine till I was able to start 
for Baltimore. Their hospitality was abundant, 
sympathetic and kindly to the last degree. 
Those days and weeks are among the brighest 
of my life. Dr. Higbee accompained me to 
1 Baltimore. His friendship was exceedingly 



DR. E. E. NIG BEE : IN L O VING REMEMBRANCE. 



precious co me. His death removes one of the 
fairest, sweetest, and most gifted of men. I am 
glad of the privilege of putting on record this 
very inadequate expression of what the man 
was to me. In years after he was my guest in 
my western home and preached in my church, 
the First Presbyterian Church of Racine, Wis- 
consin. His sermons evinced a rare mind and 
a warm, loving heart. They were long and 
gratefully remembered by the large audience 
which listened to him. How poorly can we 
afford to lose such men as Dr. Higbee from the 
circle of our friends or the consecrated life and 
service of the Church ! 



APPOINTMENT TO THE OFFICE. 

When the question of the confirmation 
of the Governor's appointee was before the 
Senate, Hon. John Stewart, of Franklin 
County, made the following remarks : 

His Excellency, Governor Hoyt, has sent to 
the Senate, in connection with the Superinten- 
dency of Public Instruction in this State, the 
name of Dr. Higbee. This distinguished honor 
having been conferred by His Excellency upon 
a citizen of the county which I represent in this 
body, it may not be improper-, even though it be 
unnecessary, that I should certify to the Senate 
the qualifications and fitness of the gentleman 
named for this high position. It would not have 
occurred to me to do so except for the fact that 
Dr. Higbee has but few personal friends in the 
Senate, and is even unknown by reputation to 
most of them. This is not strange when it is 
considered that he comes from the seclusion of 
the student and the teacher, and not from the 
busy, crowded walks of public life. For many 
years he has been the honored chief of the 
principal institution of learning in Franklin 
county. All the active years of his life have 
been devoted to educational work. He has had 
large, varied, and successful experience in this 
connection. That experience has inspired him 
with an enthusiasm in the cause of education. 
His wide and varied learning justly commands 
the respect and admiration of the most eminent 
scholars of our State, and to his high scholastic 
attainments he adds the culture and graces of a 
pure and noble life. He brings to the discharge 
of the duties of his office these high qualifica- 
tions, and to these he adds a faithful devotion 
to the public interest. In saying this much for 
Dr. Higbee, and in predicting for his adminis- 
tration of the affairs of the high office a full 
measure of success, I feel that I but anticipate 
the popular approval which is sure to follow his 
work. 

The confirmation was made, and on April 
ist, 18S1, he entered upon the duties of his 
office, as the successor of Dr. J. P. Wicker- 
sham. In announcing the appointment of 
his successor in The School Journal, Dr. 
Wickersham wrote as follows : 

Dr. Higbee enjoys the reputation of being a 
very fine scholar. It is claimed that he is equally 
we-11 versed in languages, mathematics, litera- 



ture and history. Those who know him best 
give him credit for large executive power; 
but whatever its measure, he will find it taxed 
to the utmost in the management of the great 
work now intrusted to his hands. His weakness 
in taking charge of the school affairs of the 
Commonwealth— and no man is his friend who 
conceals it from him — is his failure to identify 
himself heretofore with public school men and 
public school interests, and his want of a practi- 
cal knowledge of the extensive and varied and 
often complicated business details of his office. 
He takes command of an army of 40,000 teach- 
ers and school officers and of 1,000,000 chil- 
dren, almost unknown to every individual com- 
posing the great body. This disability may be 
overcome, but it can only be done by general- 
ship of the highest kind, and a whole-souled 
devotion to the work in hand. The retiring 
officer, in writing thus, wishes him the most 
distinguished success. 

The disability of being personally un- 
known to the teachers and school men of 
the State was readily overcome, and with 
little conscious effort on the part of the 
genial Superintendent. It was a Vent, vidi, 
vici campaign, and the measure of success 
wished for by Dr. Wickersham was, as his 
friends anticipated, very soon attained. 



MEMORIAL DAY AT LANCASTER. 

The exercises at the Lancaster High 
School on Friday afternoon, January 31st, 
1 889,. were of an impressive and appropriate 
character. Two of the hymns sung were 
written by Dr. Higbee and are from the 
German Reformed Hymnal. The funeral 
dirge by Handel was sung at his funeral by 
the High School, and the remaining hymns 
were his especial favorites. There were also 
three of his poems read by girls named on 
the programme. Other readings were se- 
lected from what has been written of the 
Doctor and his work since his death. Mr. 
James C. Gable, one of the teachers, intro- 
duced the programme and the reading of 
Governor Beaver's proclamation with re- 
marks as follows : " We are met to ob- 
serve a Memorial Day appointed in honor 
of a great and good man. Called to the 
most important office in the Commonwealth, 
he gave to the discharge of its duties and re- 
sponsibilities such powers and energies as 
are possible only to one of his deep nature. 
He has fallen, stricken where all good men 
would wish to die, at the post of duty. It 
is but meet that we begin these exercises by 
the reading of the proclamation of our 
worthy Chief Magistrate." Rev. Dr. Hark 
made the formal address of the occasion, 
and the music, which was very effective, 
was under the direction of Prof. Carl Matz. 



TRUE CULTURE IS REVERENT AND RELIGIOUS. 



The following is the programme of exer- 
cises. It was specially printed for the occa- 
sion, as were also the hymns, both words 
and music. Three of these hymns are found 
elsewhere in this Memorial Volume. 

Hymn— "On the Fount 'of Life Eternal," Goudimel. (One of 

Dr. Higbee's favorite hymns, both words and music.) 
Proclamation— "The Great Seal of the State," (Gov. Jas. A. 

Beaver) James C. (lable. 

Reading— " Dr. Higbee : The Scholar and the Man," (Supt, 

R. MT Streeter) F. C. Sweeton. 

Reading (Poem)— " Christus Consolator" (E. E. Higbee). 

Effie G. Bowman. 
Hymn— "Thy Glory Thou didst Manifest" (E. E. Higbee). 
Reading— "A Prince Has Fallen" (J. P. McCaskey),Lulu Getz. 
Reading— " Dr. Higbee: The Preacher and the Teacher," 

(Rev."E. M. Kremer) John D. Pyott. 

Reading— "Ode to a Sparrow," (E. E. Higbee). M. K. Eagles. 
Hymn— " Asleep in Jesus" (Margaret Mackay) . . .Saxton. 
Tribute to the Memory of Rev. Dr Higbee, by Rev. J. Max 

Hark, D. D., Pastnr of Moravian Church, Lancaster, Pa. 
Reading— "Dr. Higbee's First School in Vermont," (Rev. R. 

H.Howard) Carl F Rengier. 

Hymn — " Testis, O'er the Grave Victorious" (E. E. Higbee). 
Reading (Poem)— "On His Fiftieth Birthday, 1880." (E. E. 

Higbee) May L. Kauffman. 

Reading— "Dr. Higbee's Grand Work at Mercersburg," (Prof. 

J. B.'Kerschner) Chas. E. Bonine. 

Reading — " Reviewing Dr. Higbee's Public School Work" 

(Dr. Edward Brooks) . John A. Nauman. 

Funeral Dirge — "Unveil Thy Bosom, Faithful Tomb," Han- 
del. (Music from Dead March in "Saul.") 

Benediction Rev. Dr. Hark. 

Singing by the Schools under direction of Prof. Carl Matz. 

The Memorial address of Rev. J. Max 
Hark was as follows : 

He, whose memory we come to honor this 
afternoon was so many-sided a man, and from 
every side was so admirable and excellent, that 
to dwell upon more than one or two of the 
phases of his character and usefulness is impos- 
sible at a time or on an occasion like this. Nor 
is it easy to decide which should be chosen for 
special remark where all seem equally remark- 
able. I would, therefore, recall to your loving 
remembrance to-day, Dr. Higbee as we all 
knew him in his capacity of a public educator, 
or, more definitely, as the exponent and ex- 
ample of the only true end of all education, and 
of our public school system in particular, 
namely, a broad, human culture. 

I use the word culture in contradistinction to 
mere technical instruction and training. The 
former may include the latter, but the latter 
may and, also, too often does exclude the for- 
mer. Culture affects the whole man, special 
instruction only some part or parts of him. 
That the latter should be substituted for the 
former, the part for the whole, was for a long 
time the chief danger that threatened our sys- 
tem of public instruction. The danger is one 
that must always be guarded against, though 
in our State, which has had such men as Dr. 
Wickersham and Dr. Higbee at the head of its 
schools, we may feel more secure than they are 
in some other parts of our country. Certainly, 
however, the reproach, just or unjust, is still 
heard on many sides, that our normal schools 
and public schools turn out good spellers, and 
grammarians, and geographers, and arithme- 
ticians, but not enough men and women who 
can think correctly on any subject outside of 
their text-books, form broad, true views of life, ' 



and have refined tastes and lofty aspirations. 
To all such I would hold up Dr. Higbee as 
the embodiment of what our public education 
means to attain, the end it hopes to reach. I 
would say to them and to all, " He was what 
we are aiming at. We may never turn out 
many specimens of the finely-cultured gentle- 
man as perfect as he was, but he is the kind of 
man, his the kind of culture, we are striving to 
attain." There was nothing partial about him, 
nothing superficial and make believe, nothing 
narrow, nothing crude and coarse and raw. 
Such a manhood as his, such a symmetrically 
rounded life, is not produced by any merely 
technical instruction. It is the type of that 
culture for which our public schools are trying 
to lay the broad and deep foundations. 

Let me also emphasize one or two of its char- 
acteristics, emphasize them especially for the 
younger portion of my audience. 

First, true culture, such as Dr. Higbee had, 
and held to be the end of all sound education, 
is something practically useful. There are still 
some benighted people who believe', or pretend 
to believe, that any education other than teach- 
ing how to measure dry-goods and weigh gro- 
ceries and count dollars and cents, is unpractical 
and unnecessary ; that to know the reason of 
things, to see their beauty, and to understand 
their inner meaning, is a mere superfluous ac- 
complishment, rather in the way than other- 
wise of any one who wants to make a living. 

Was it the case with Dr. Higbee ? Did his 
knowledge of botany, and of half-a-dozen other 
branches of natural science, make him less 
profound as a theologian, less eloquent as a 
preacher, or less useful as a pastor ? On the con- 
trary, we know it was just this that gave him 
much of his grace and power in the pulpit, and 
if he had so willed might have made him one 
of the most popular and effective ministers in 
the State. Did his exquisite taste in the fine 
arts and literature, and his fine poetical gifts, 
make him less successful as a teacher, less be- 
loved and proficient as a professor? We know 
that it was just this that largely contributed to 
his eminent usefulness and strong influence in 
this capacity. Did his Hebrew scholarship, his 
intimate acquaintance with the Greek and Latin 
classics, his profound philosophy and rich store 
of historical lore, make him less available for 
the high office of State Superintendent, with all 
its demands for practical knowledge of details 
and executive ability ? 

It was just these that lifted him up so high 
among the nation's educators, and made him 
the peer of any State Superintendent in the 
land. It was because he knew so much more 
than a Superintendent must know, and was so 
much more than a mere school man must be, 
that made him to excel in his office. It was 
because of the depth and breadth of his culture 
that he was fit to take up almost any special 
line of work he might have chosen, and would 
have been able not only to " make a living " in 
any one of a dozen different spheres of activity, 
but to excel in each one of them. 

Secondly, and finally, true culture is reverent 
and religious. The irreverent infidel is one- 



nS 



DR. E. E. HIGBEE: IN LOVING REMEMBRANCE. 



sided in his culture ; there is a lack of right 
balance between his various faculties of mind 
and heart. It is only a " little knowledge" that 
is dangerous. A well-rounded, symmetrical 
character, such as was Dr. Higbee's, must be 
in right relations to God, the divine, eternal 
Truth. He was a standing rebuke to all that 
merely skin-deep science which can, indeed, 
weigh and measure and count correctly, but 
has not sense enough to know or even believe 
in anything which its scales cannot weigh or its 
yard- sticks measure. 

To him every flower that bloomed was 
fragrant of Heaven, every star that shone in 
the sky reflected God's glory ; the mountains 
were God's monuments, on whose every rock 
and stone was inscribed his name ; whose 
every blade of grass and every lofty tree 
pointed upward to him. Without God, without 
the Eternal Love, star nor flower, mountain, 
nor forest, would have had any meaning to 
him. The earth would have seemed a dead 
clod, a world-corpse, without Him whose Spirit 
alone is its life, for whom and in whom alone it 
exists. As a king uncrowned is culture without 
religion ; the crown is essential to its royalty. 
Without it, we must ever suspect it of being a 
mere pretender. Was there anything Dr. Hig- 
bee's life and words ever taught more plainly, 
more constantly, than this ? 

At the close of the programme, before the 
final hymn, Mr. McCaskey, principal of the 
boys' department, spoke much as follows: 

During the past three weeks 1 have been at 
work upon the February number of The Penn- 
sylvania School Journal. It was announced 
that it would be made a Memorial number, and 
that contributions would be received from such 
as desired to send the same in honor of Dr. E. 
E. Higbee (I would say State Superintendent 
Higbee, instead of the familiar name by which 
he is everywhere known, but this nor any other 
title can add honor or dignity to the memory of 
so good a man!) It was supposed that these 
tributes might occupy an ordinary number to 
the exclusion of other matter. Shall I say that 
I have been surprised at the response to this 
request? I have been amazed at it ! This Me- 
morial number will be twice the average size, 
and yet much matter that has been received 
must be omitted. 

The wide range of these tributes is their most 
striking feature. They serve to bring into strong 
prominence the many-sided culture of Dr. Hig- 
bee, his extraordinary scholarship, his fine 
artistic sense, his intense personality, his intui- 
tions quick as the lightning and yet his power 
of " toiling terribly," his unselfish nature, his 
great loving heart, his impress for good upon 
all with whom he came into contact — this man 
who went about his work so quietly, such work 
as few men do, or can do. I used to think that 
I knew him and his history — and eight years of 
intimate personal acquaintance would seem to 
afford reason fairly good for thinking so — but I 
did not know him. It is true, I knew far more 
of him than there is in most men — of reputa- 
tion even — to be known ; but within the past 



three weeks I have learned that which lifts af- 
fection into reverence, both for the extraordinary 
man he was in himself and for the great work 
that he has done for God and for humanity— of 
which in large part I was ignorant. How glad 
I should be, with this broader knowledge of the 
man and his influence for good, to see him come 
into my door as of old! — to welcome him again 
to this platform and your audience ! But Death 
relaxes nothing of his inflexible decree. 

" Oh, cold, cold, rigid, dreadful Death, set up 
thine altar here, and dress it with such terrors 
as thou hast at thy command," is the heart-cry 
of a child of genius, " for this is thy dominion ! 
But of the loved, revered and honored head 
thou canst not turn one hair to thy dread pur- 
poses, or make one feature odious. It is not that 
the hand is heavy and will fall down when re- 
leased; it is not that the heart and pulse are 
still; but that the hand was open, generous, 
and true ; the heart brave, warm and tender, 
and the pulse a man's. Strike, Shadow, strike ! 
And see his good deeds springing from the 
wound to sow the world with life immortal." 

No, Dr. Higbee is not dead. He is still with 
us in the thoughts he has breathed into our 
thinking; in the habits which these thoughts 
have formed or encouraged ; in memories sweet 
with the fragrance of affection and gratitude. 
Take with you this thought, in something of its 
tremendous significance, as expressed by a re- 
cent English poet : 

The dead abide with us ! Tho' stark and cold 

Earth seems to grip them, they are with us still ; 

They have forged our chains of being for good or ill, 

And their invisible hands these hands yet hold. 

Our perishable bodies are the mould 

In which their strong imperishable will — 

Mortality's deep yearning to fulfil — 

Hath grown incorporate through dim time untold, 

Vibrations infinite of life in death, 

As a star's traveling light survives the star ! 

So may we hold our lives that when we are 

The fate of those who then will draw this breath, 

They shall not drag us to their judgment bar, 

And curse the heritage which we bequeath. 

Dr. Higbee has bequeathed to the world a 
goodly heritage. What shall ours be — yours 
and mine — when the account is made up of 
influences good and bad that we have set in 
motion ? — of work good and bad forever done ? 
Remember this : The day once gone is gone ! 
" You cannot bend the Past out of its eternal 
shape." 

BRIEF EXTRACTS FROM LETTERS. 

We are compelled, in closing, to condense 
much matter into small space, and hence 
present extracts more or less brief from 
numerous letters and other communications, 
with and without credit to the writers, omit- 
ting very much that we should be glad to 
insert. The same charm of light and 
warmth and color pervades them all : 

Major Jos. K. Bolton, of the Department of 
Public Instruction, Harrisburg, writes : " Dr. 
Higbee was a friend the fragrance of whose 



ENERGETIC, ENTHUSIASTIC, AND PROGRESSIVE. 



119 



life has often cheered and helped us when the 
world seemed cold and unfeeling. His learn- 
ing and culture did not take from him the meek 
and lowly spirit which characterizes those who 
sit at the feet of Christ and learn of Him. In 
the years of my work for him I have always 
found him tender and kind, He loved men's 
sympathies, and felt keenly the cruel thrusts of 
unjust suspicion and wrong. But he endured 
without a murmur, and with such patience as 
touched our hearts, because we loved him. We 
miss him and mourn our loss, but we also feel 
that he is beyond the reach of anything that can 
harm or disturb his peace. Only the curse is 
left behind, and the glory put on which is in 
reserve for all the finally faithful." 

Dr. Higbee was a foremost mind and spirit 
in the great field of popular education, carrying 
into it a sympathetic heart, a cultured intellect, 
and generous, lofty spirit. Well may his im- 
mediate co-workers in Pennsylvania mourn his 
death. They have sustained a loss not easily 
supplied, and those of us in the more distant 
fields of our great Union, mingle our tears of 
regret and sorrow with those who were nearer 
to him, and who have a more complete sense 
of his worth, his truth, and his manly earnest- 
ness. He leaves a rich heritage to the State 
and the Nation in a character pure, noble, lofty, 
and altogether worthy of study and imitation. — 
Hon. A. J. Russell. State Superintendent of 
Public Instruction, Tallahassee, Florida. 

The death of Dr. Higbee was a severe shock 
to the people of our county. He was very highly 
esteemed, and expressions of sorrow are on 
every tongue. He was an inspiration to all. 
His profound scholarship, his eloquence, and, 
above all, his kind and genial disposition, could 
not but endear him to all who knew him well. 
He has made for himself a name that will en- 
dure when monuments of art shall have crumb- 
led. His memory will be kept green in the 
hearts of our rising generation. — Supt. A. J. 
Beitzel, Cumberland County, Pa. 

In my short acquaintance with Dr. E. E. 
Higbee, I know of nothing that lets more light 
into his soul nature, showing his deep, loving 
and comforting sympathy, than his letters to me 
bearing on the awful calamity of May 31, '89. 
His heart seemed to palpitate in every line he 
wrote, and burn in every word he spoke. 
Words poured forth from burning hearts are 
sure to kindle the hearts of others. "To live 
in hearts we leave behind is not to die." There- 
fore the Doctor is not dead. — Supt. J". M. 
Leech, Cambria County, Pa. 

It is a singular fact that on the very day that he 
was to have been here to address this body 
of directors, teachers, and people, he has 
been laid away in a new-made grave. I 
need not speak of the brilliancy of his in- 
tellect. You know something of that as it 
shone out from every relation of his public and 
private life. He was a man of genial disposi- 
tion, broad culture, and undoubted integrity. 
He held malice toward none, but a sweet Chris- 
tian charity for all. His nature was all sunshine, 
and happy was he who could bask in that sun- 



shine and warm himself by the fires of his 
friendship. I fear the cruel outrage of that un- 
just and merciless assault upon this good man 
was to him as the sting of death. But the storm 
soon spent its fury ; the ominous clouds passed 
off that for a brief while had obscured the sun ; 
warmth and gladness again filled the atmos- 
phere of his life, every care dispelled and al- 
most every prejudice driven away. Peace to 
his ashes ! Consolation to his friends and loved 
ones ! Fragrant flowers for his tomb ! And 
may sweetest memories ever linger around the 
name of our dead chieftain. — Co Supt. Matt. 
Savage, Clea?-field, Pa, 

Dr. Higbee was a man of wide culture, a 
thorough scholar in every department of learn- 
ing, and a Christian gentleman of the highest 
character. As State Superintendent of Public 
Instruction he was energetic, enthusiastic, and 
progressive; and his administration of the affairs 
of his high office has made a permanent im- 
pression on the school system of the State. His 
public and his private life were alike blameless, 
and he will be mourned by thousands who knew 
him intimately and loved him well. Although 
dead, he will live long in the hearts and lives 
of the many to whom his example and instruc- 
tion have been an inspiration. — Dr. E. O Lyt?, 
Principal State Normal School, Millersville, Pa. 

Dr. Higbee will never be forgotten in Penn- 
sylvania. The first time I heard him speak, I 
was forcibly impressed by his superior ability 
and attainments. Years later, he visited our 
Institute, and, taking me by the hand, give me 
helpful words of encouragement. By his kind- 
liness, by his kingliness, he was sure to impress 
all with whom he came in contact. At the same 
time, he was a modest gentleman, who made 
no effort to bring his greatness to the attention 
of the public. But that is one feature of his 
character that will make him stand forth all the 
greater in history. Truly we have lost a man 
we could ill afford to lose. Such a man he was, 
indeed, that of him we can truly say, " Our loss 
is his gain." — County Supt. F. H. Syldcr, Orrs- 
town, Franklin County, Pa. 

For the past eight years I have attended the 
annual meetings of the State Teachers' Associ- 
ation and the conventions of Superintendents, 
and at these meetings there have been many 
distinguished educators ; but never have I 
heard any one that I thought eclipsed our hon- 
ored State Superintendent. He was one of the 
sweetest-spirited, most whole-souled, and most 
conscientious men I have ever known. — Co. 
Supt. y. S. Crimes, Columbia County, Pa. 

Dr. E. E. Higbee was to have been with us 
on Tuesday. Oh, how much we missed him ! 
He was present at both our former Institutes, 
and by his words of encouragement and in- 
struction he won the hearts of all. His culture 
and kindness made him a universal favorite 
among our citizens. — City Supt. S. Transeau, 
Williamsport, Pa. 

Never in the history of our county has there 
been such universal sorrow amongst the educa- 
tional workers as this, caused by the decease 
of our worthy State Superintendent. Teachers 



DR. E. E. HIGBEE: IN LOVING REMEMBRANCE. 



and pupils alike seem to feel that they have 
lost a dear friend. May his memory ever lin- 
ger in the hearts of our youth, and the pattern 
of his devoted life ever stimulate them to higher 
and nobler aims. — Supt. M. F. Cass, Tioga 
County, Pa. 

"I never knew one who had less terror of 
death, for he looked upon it as but a new birth 
to life ; and yet I never knew one of stronger, 
sincerer, more devoted and unselfish attach- 
ments for those he loved, and to leave them, 
though it might be to gain a crown, was always 
to him a struggle and a pang. Not for himself, 
but for God and his friends and humanity, he 
lived, and shrank to die. For them he truly 
lived, and for them and in devotion to their ser- 
vice verily he died. ' Requiescat in pace,' all 
who knew him and loved him may truly say." 

" The news of Dr. Higbee's death brought 
burning tears to our eyes and deep sorrow to 
our hearts. As a token of the high esteem in 
which he is regarded by us here, we held me- 
morial services in the church [Tiffin, Ohio] that 
was erected during the time of his pastorate, and 
which now stands a monument to his energy 
and toil." 

"My heart is so sore over the death of our 
honored and beloved teacher! What a treas- 
ure we who remain must surrender in his death! 
If we would tell the story of what he has been to 
us, where should we begin, or where leave off? 
It seems to me that there can be no other funeral 
discourse worthy of' him than the story of the 
love and gratitude, worthily told, which is felt 
towards him by the favored ones who were per- 
mitted to sit at his feet as learners, and be im- 
pressed by the lessons of Love and Wisdom 
which he taught. I cannot tell you what it 
means for me that he whom I admire above all 
men that I have ever known ; who has shown 
me the path of duty as no other did ; whose 
kind and generous bearing towards me im- 
pressed his image indelibly in my heart, has 
gone for a season beyond my sight." 



" AUF WIEDERSEHEN ! 

The first time I met Dr. Higbee was soon 
after his appointment as State Superintend- 
ent in 1881. It did not take long to be- 
come acquainted with him, for of all his 
faculties, that of making friends and attach- 
ing them to him was perhaps the most re- 
markable and most extraordinary. In this 
respect he seemed to possess a sort of fasci- 
nation, by which all generous-hearted 
people who came into his presence were 
attracted towards him, and bound to him by 
ties which neither time nor circumstance 
had power to dissolve. 

Though he had done most of his teaching 
in the higher institutions of learning, and 
had paid little attention to the public 
schools, it required but a short time for him 
to become familiar with the system. He 



often spoke in the highest terms of the 
work done by his predecessors — the former 
State Superintendents — and expressed sur- 
prise to find such a vast system, in all its 
details, in such splendid condition. In a 
remarkably short time he had made his way 
into every county and become acquainted 
with the school men of the State. 

This is not the time nor the occasion to 
speak at length of his work; suffice it to say 
that from the day on which he entered the 
public service until that on which he passed 
the gates of death, he was never a follower, 
but always a leader. Many of the measures 
of which we feel proud were engrafted upon 
the system during his administration, and 
through his reports and addresses he came 
to be universally recognized as one of the 
ablest and most efficient State Superintend- 
ents in the country. 

I prefer to speak of him now as a co- 
laborer, a companion, and friend. During 
his entire administration our relations were 
very close and intimate, and I am glad to 
say there never was the slightest misunder- 
standing between us. To see him in sick- 
ness and in health, in joy and in sadness, in 
prosperity and in adversity — this was to 
know and to love him. 

We attended many Institutes together. 
The last one of these was at Norristown, 
shortly before his death. Here we occu- 
pied the same room, and it was during this 
trip that I became convinced that his health 
was rapidly declining, and that the world 
and the things of the world were fast fading 
away before him. Feeble as he was, he 
made two addresses, one before the Institute 
and another to the convention of Directors. 
While both were excellent, the first was one 
of the most effective I have ever heard. It 
was a plea for the proper training of the chil- 
dren, and was delivered with such fervor and 
pathos that it made a wonderful impression, 
and he was congratulated on every side. 

Our last meeting was at Harrisburg, on 
Monday, December 9th, where we took 
dinner together. We had a delightful hour, 
and little did I think then that it would be 
our last meeting. We walked together to 
the office, where he spent several hours be- 
fore taking the train for Mifflin. When he 
left he bade each one Good-bye, and the 
last words he spoke — a favorite expression 
of his when leaving, was the German — 
Auf Wiedersehen / 

The next evening, when the day's work 
was about done and we sat together in the 
Department engaged in friendly conversa- 
tion, our thoughts turning to the Doctor, 



FULLY DEVELOPED PERSONALITY OF THE CHILD. 



we were expressing regret that he should 
continue to do platform work in his en- 
feebled condition, when the conversation 
was suddenly and sadly broken by a tele- 
gram saying that Dr. Higbee was stricken 
down with apoplexy at the station near 
Mifflin, and that we should meet the train 
which would bring him to Harrisburg. 
The scene at the station was a sad one, in- 
deed. He was unconscious and recognized 
no one. The hand which always grasped 
another's so heartily lay' motionless at his 
side, and that voice whose every tone was 
music was hushed and still. 

He is gone. The death of such a man 
awakens many sad but sweet reflections and 
touches the heart with tenderest emotion. 
It can fall to the lot of few men to die 
amidst so warm a gratitude flowing from the 
hearts of those with whom and for whom 
he labored. "Auf Weidersehen !" 
— Hon. Henry Houck, Deputy Superinten- 
dent of Public Instruction, Harrisburg, Pa. 



SUGGESTIVE THOUGHTS IN PROSE 
AND VERSE FROM DR. HIGBEE. 



ADDRESS BEFORE AN INSTITUTE. 



\ LL acknowledge the necessity of educat- 
i\ in g the young; but this necessity may 
be grounded upon merely relative ends, and 
thus great injury may be done at the very 
start. The necessity for education is found 
in the nature of the child. There are in- 
volved in his person, great possibilities; 
and forces also of vast significance from be- 
hind his individual will are entering into 
the web and woof of his being, which are 
to be taken up and finally made to be ele- 
ments of his character. These possibilities 
are to be actualized and, so far as lies in our 
power, the possibilities of evil must be re- 
pressed, and those of the good be encour- 
aged. Education must be based upon the 
need of a fully-developed personality. The 
furniture of the life already at hand, or the 
talents already given, must not be hidden 
in a napkin or buried in the earth. 

The danger now is, that, in the pressure 
upon our attention of the thousand interests 
of our social order, calling for instruction 
in the arts and sciences, now almost in- 
numerable, we may so dissipate our ele- 
mentary training as to make the minds of 
the children fragmentary — forgetting the 
solemn interest of a fully-developed person- 
ality, without which no one is prepared to 
accomplish the mission of life. 



Teaching is often spoken of as a moulding 
process, and so it is. But mind is not 
moulded like clay or iron, externally. The 
moulding power must come from within. 
The child is not a thing, but a personality 
— a thought of Jehovah — with possibilities 
which baffle all finite measurement. You 
cannot treat the child as a thing — for the 
pla r tic elements which are to form his char- 
acter are to operate from within his own 
being, and the teacher must come to appre- 
hend at the very outset of his or her work 
what that being involves. From behind the 
child's individual life, yet entering therein 
with conditioning powers, are the broad 
forces of race, and nationality, and sex, and 
family life. These form elements of study 
and serious thought upon the part of the 
teacher, for they reach beyond the body 
into the interior psychic structure of the 
child, and constitute a vast natural force 
which the child has to take up and carry 
upward from their base in the natural into 
ethical freedom, into the spiritual structure 
of character. 

What organic differences, for example, 
confront us in sex, challenging us to pay re- 
gard thereto! The two sexes cannot be 
treated alike, and it was never intended they 
should be. The differences show themselves 
at once. The boy, under the power of a deter- 
mining phantasy, begins to ride his stick 
for a horse, while the girl dresses her doll ; 
and as they grow older, although brother 
and sister, they remove farther from each 
other in temperament and forms of feeling 
and thought. 

Passing from what thus enters into the in- 
dividual life from behind all self-conscious 
activity, let us look at the being of the child 
as made up of body and soul. The body 
becomes important as the investiture of the 
soul, as the earthly image which it bears, as 
the ultimate in which it meets the surround- 
ing physical world. Every teacher should 
have sufficient information in reference to 
bodily life, to guide the young in dietetics 
and gymnastics, and in all that pertains to 
the prophylactic side of medical knowledge ; 
and beyond this there are peculiar temper- 
aments that inhere in the bodily structure 
which must be understood. 

If all this and much more is true relating 
to the body, how much greater must be the 
need of knowing the powers of the soul ! 
There are temperaments, so to speak, there 
also. You may find a pupil in whom the 
will side preponderates, with the imminent 
danger of stubborn wilfulness, calling for 
you to open the way for it to organize itself 



DR. E. E. HI G BEE: IN LOVING REMEMBRANCE. 



into a great administrative power for good. 
Again, you may have one in whom the in- 
tellect-side preponderates, reaching out into 
the pride of rationalism, needing your most 
careful restraints and encouragements. 
Here again is one in whom the emotional in 
the form of imagination has the ascendency, 
in imminent danger of falling into mere 
sentimentalism, calling for you to open the 
way for it to reach out into the realm of the 
beautiful in the way of aesthetic culture. 
These inner soul tendencies, these beginning 
impulses of the soul, under the power of in- 
fluences which flow down from the world of 
ideas, require your steady and most careful 
attention. You can not master the know- 
ledge required here by examination of 
specific or technical journals. What is re- 
quired is the broad, full, liberal culture of 
your own personality. 

What are commonly called faculties of the 
mind, we prefer to call recipient forms. The 
will never creates the good, but only opens 
the way for the good to have place in our 
personal life. The intellect does not make 
the true, but opens the way for it to authen- 
ticate itself. Such also is the situation 
between the imagination and the beautiful; 
and hence, in the culture of these so-called 
faculties, that for which they are creatively 
given must be the end toward which they 
should be directed; and this is no relative 
end, as is at once apparent when we recog- 
nize that the Good and the True and the 
Beautiful have their source in God, and flow 
down from him to apprehend and be appre- 
hended, that we may live to a purpose in- 
finitely elevating. 

Now it is impossible for the mind to 
evolve itself, except in the presence of an 
already awakened intelligence. Without 
this, though surrounded by all the facts of 
the universe, there can be no culture, no 
movement, much beyond that of the lower 
nature. Teaching, therefore, is not a sci- 
ence, nor an art — it is a virtue, an ethical 
movement, a relation of mind to mind, of 
will to will, of soul to soul. There may be, 
and is, a science of it, but it itself is not a 
science. From this we can see the absolute 
need of our own personal culture as teachers. 

For example, Grammar is an abstract 
science; but to teach it you must refer back 
to its concrete base in language. Your 
preparation must pass beyond the technical 
analysis of grammar text-books. You must, 
so far as possible, master your mother- 
tongue, by reading the literature in which it 
is speaking, and hath spoken. Chaucer, 
Shakespeare, Johnson, Marlow, Webster, i 



etc., etc., should be read until you know 
English. Of course, the children must use 
the scaffolding while they need it ; but you 
should have removed it long ago, to gaze 
directly upon the fair proportions and glory 
of the structure itself. How often do we 
have classes in literature, each member of 
which can give us dates of birth and death, 
and headings and titles, etc., etc. — a fine 
test of memory indeed, but only the skele- 
ton, with no flesh and no blood coursing 
through arteries and veins ! Such will tell 
you all about Chaucer, so far as regards his 
space and- time habitat, who have read a 
few lines only of his writings, and call this 
"literature." So also with other depart- 
ments of study. The mind of the teacher 
may dwell so long upon methods of teach- 
ing, very important in themselves, as to 
forget the truth that the real method of a 
science is in the science itself, if grasped in 
the mind. 

In regard to the multiplicity of studies de- 
manded by the age, allow a passing remark. 
We are constantly asked whether this and 
that and the other ought not to be intro- 
duced into the schools ; and some may have 
already commenced to introduce, and may 
keep on introducing, until we have, as the 
inevitable result, a piebald hodge podge of 
an elementary course for our schools. Let 
us introduce all these if we can in the teach- 
ers, or in other words, let the effort be to 
secure such a teacher as will be prepared to 
point the pupils, as occasion may demand, 
to interesting and useful lines of study in his 
daily intercourse with them. 

You teachers are held to stand, each one, 
in loco parentis. Of course, you can only 
approximate such relation. But it is well 
that you consider the average family life, as 
this is found in our Commowealth, and see 
what elements of culture are involved therein, 
that the contrast between the school and 
school-room, and the home-life of the pupils 
may not be so great as to render an approx- 
imation even impossible. If the pupil on 
the way to school has soiled his face, disar- 
ranged his garments, or is wet and covered 
with mud, as is often the case with frolic- 
some youth, take care of him as a loving 
parent would, or ought. Consider his man- 
ners and habits, his needs of moral and re- 
ligious culture. You cannot introduce the 
various confessions of our churches. If you 
could, it would not be wise for you to do so. 
But, remembering the parents' solicitude, 
you can point the soul of your pupil heaven- 
ward, you can remind him of the bond be- 
tween his spirit and the Eternal Spirit. A 



COMPLEX UNITY OF EACH PERSONAL EXISTENCE. 



[23 



religious atmosphere can be made to fill your 
school-room, and a reverent religious life, so 
important and necessary, can by your pres- 
ence and character be made to pervade your 
whole work. 

But it may be said, "All this is idle talk. 
Children can with difficulty grasp the 
known, how then shall they think of the 
unknown?" No greater mistake can be 
made than this. "Heaven lies about us in 
our infancy." Our children are nearer God 
than we are. The artfulness of later years 
has not reached them: the maxims of a cold 
and half-godless world have not yet driven 
them to faithlessness. They look up into 
our faces with the confidence of innocence, 
and with a reverence akin to piety. The im- 
mortal lines of the poet recur to my mind, 

" Not in entire forgetfulness, 
And not in utter nakedness, 
But trailing clouds of glory do we come 
From God, who is our home." 

And though our older lives have drifted 
farther from that shore where we felt the 
boundless love of the Divine, yet — 

" in a season of calm weather, 

Though inland far we be, 
Our souls have sight of that immortal sea 
Which brought us hither, 
Can in a moment travel thither, 
And see the children sport upon the shore, 
And hear the mighty waters rolling evermore." 

Think of these things, fellow-teacher, and 
all other good things will be attended to in 
their proper order. 



RESPONSIBILITY OF THE TEACHER. 

In a previous article we have spoken of 
the responsibility of the teacher in relation 
to the parents or guardians whose children 
are entrusted to them. A sense of this 
responsibility, we said, will lead the teacher 
affectionately to enter into the home-life of 
his district, acquaint himself with the fami- 
lies whose children come under his care, and 
form such intimate relations therewith as to 
share with them in their anxieties, and hopes, 
and purposes in reference to their children. 

Now, secondly, there is a kindred respon- 
sibility which the teacher owes to the chil- 
dren themselves. These children are not 
like so many blank tables upon which may 
be impressed whatsoever the teacher, in his 
caprice, deems fit: nor are they subjects 
upon whom he may, at the outset, begin to 
try the various experiments to which the 
ever-varying methods of the age direct his 
attention. They are living souls — person- 
alities — in which are lodged the results of 
vast antecedent forces, physical and spirit- 



ual, and the possibilities also of a vast future 
development in which all the given resources 
or furniture of existence at hand must enter 
into the structure of character, whether this 
be good or bad. 

Neither time nor space allows us to men- 
tion in detail the general forces, physical 
and metaphysical, which enter into each 
one's individual existence from behind his 
own conscious and voluntary activity, and 
which constitute a large deposit — remanents, 
we may say — whose full significance is, no 
doubt, beyond our apprehension. God 
only understandeth our thought thus afar 
off. Race, nationality, sex, family life, all 
enter into the complex unity of each personal 
existence. Not that the individual is him- 
self responsible for the possession thus made 
his; but he is responsible for the way in 
which he moulds it into character. His 
will, and intellect, and phantasy, do not 
start into activity as wholly dependent 
upon what comes in from without through 
bodily organs which open the way for such 
ingress. Rather into these bodily organs a 
life, deeper than that of flesh alone, enters 
from within, with developing capacity to 
meet and grasp that which is at hand from 
without, and give to the whole a character- 
ized organization which in the ethical 
sphere will bring out the good or the evil j 
in the intellectual sphere, the true or the 
false; and in the sphere of the phantasy, 
the beautiful or the deformed. 

There is a spiritual heritage also — out- 
flows from the Divine, which enter into each 
one's personal being. Indeed, the good, 
the true, and the beautiful, per se, are not 
creations of ours; nor are they simply no- 
tions formed by us in the way of generaliza- 
tion. They reach in upon us from an infinite 
world ; and we both feel and know that we 
are but media through which they authen- 
ticate themselves as from above. How im- 
portant is it, therefore, that the teacher 
take into serious account the child himself, 
— the living soul before him, as something 
vastly more than a tabula rasa, or an iso- 
lated thing, unrelated to the past, unen- 
grafted in the life of antecedent forces of 
race and national and family culture. 

The children come before the teacher 
also with varying physical and psycholo- 
gical temperaments, which have a condition- 
ing significance in reference to their whole 
subsequent culture. These cannot be over- 
looked. We will not take space now to at- 
tempt a general classification of these. We 
wish simply to enforce the recognition of 
them upon the part of the teacher, that he 



I2 4 



DR. E. E. HIGBEE: IN LOVING REMEMBRANCE. 



may feel more deeply that he has to deal 
with life, and not simply with books. He 
owes it to the relation in which he finds 
himself, to make earnest account of all this ; 
lest he fail to have any proper ethical end 
in view, and in place of aiding in the un- 
folding and direction of the life before him 
heavenward — a truly solemn mission — go 
plodding onward through his daily task- 
work and ever-changing machinery to gain 
merely technical and outward results, which 
perish in the using. 



THE ROAD TO LEARNING. 

There is "no royal road to learning," 
says an old school maxim ; and the maxim, 
as commonly interpreted, means far more 
than it expresses. It means not merely that 
the road to learning is the same for king and 
subject, but that it is, like the way of the 
transgressor, hard. It is rough and thorny ; 
there are birches by the wayside ; there are 
vales of tears to pass, and sloughs in which 
to wallow, and rugged steeps to climb. 
There are few attractions along its course, 
no allurements in front; only force behind, 
urging the weary and heart-sick traveler on 
and on up the mount of knowledge. Ask 
the average school-boy in the average gram- 
mar-school, if this is not a good description 
of the road to learning, as he has found it in 
his experience, and if he is candid and is 
free from restraint he will answer, "Yes." 
He is never happier than when he has es- 
caped from it into some by-path, where he 
can roam at will out of the horrid shades of 
"jography" and Arithmetic" and gram- 
mar, and out of the "master's" sight. He 
hates study. Whatever pleasure he has 
found at school, has been found in the play- 
ground, and not among the books and 
benches. 

This is the school-boy's road. But is it 
the only road? Is it even the common 
road ? Let us consult our own extra-school 
experience for an answer. How much of 
our knowledge was derived from text-books 
by that painful process known to the school- 
boy as "study ?" Let us see. 

First comes the knowledge of our own 
language — a knowledge, the small begin- 
nings of which are beyond the reach of mem- 
ory. How have we gathered it? Not from 
text-books; in the common phrase, we have 
"picked it up." That is, we have acquired 
it through observation, voluntarily, by our 
own wits, unaided by any task-master. From 
the day we first began to lisp, we have been 
pursuing this pathway to learning, with eyes 



and ears open for the reception of useful 
facts, and brain ever performing its digestive 
functions, and yet we have not been con- 
scious of a moment's weariness. To be sure, 
at one point on our way we encountered 
Lindley Murray ; but that was so long ago 
that the unpleasant vision has faded almost 
out of mind. Then we have a fair knowl- 
edge of geography; but, beyond the bare 
outlines, very little of it was obtained from 
Mitchell or Cornell. It is true we went 
through' the regulation school course; but 
ot the hundreds and thousands of names of 
rivers, towns and mountains, which we spent 
hours in memorizing as "lessons," only 
now and then one of exceptional importance 
has been retained. The rest have passed 
irrevocably out of mind. The great bulk of 
our present geographical knowledge has 
been derived from travel, from conversation, 
from miscellaneous reading; and the facts 
of which it consists have been remembered 
• because they interested us, and therefore so 
impressed themselves on the memory that 
they could not be forgotten. 

So it was with our knowledge of history, 
of national manners and peculiarities, of the 
sciences ; the acquirement of all this knowl- 
edge has been a pleasure and not a pain. 
We may have consulted text-books, but not 
until a desire to learn has been awakened 
and study has become for us play, not work. 
Now, why should the school-boy's road 
be hard and unattractive, while the grand 
highway to knowledge is easy and delight- 
ful ? Is it not, after all, possible that we are 
forcing him along an artificial road, an un- 
natural course, badly devised by bungling, 
although well-meaning constructors? Do 
we not impose upon him unnecessary labor 
in requiring him to memorize facts, which, 
facts though they are, are valueless to him 
because forgotten as soon as the lesson has 
been said ? No child, unless he is a com- 
plete idiot, is devoid of memory, and there- 
fore too dull to learn. But not even the 
brightest child will long retain in memory a 
fact in which he takes no interest — which is 
memorized merely as a task. Why, then, 
waste time and labor and patience in beat- 
ing into the child's brain repulsive knowl- 
edge which is certain to be rejected ? 

Let us attempt rather to teach him so far 
only as his interest can be carried. Whether 
the subject be geography or history or gram- 
mar, make it attractive and he will learn of 
his own free will. Herein lies the secret of 
successful teaching. In short, to return to 
our figurative speech, let us take the child 
along the road which we are ourselves trav- 



THE BOOK OF NATURE EVERYWHERE OPEN TO ALL. 



125 



eling ; act toward him as a friend and 
guide, not as a driver ; point out to him the 
objects of interest along the route — innum- 
erable things which, left to himself, he 
would overlook or which he can see only 
while we hold him up ; keep his curiosity 
aroused, and he. not we, will be questioner. 
Thus we shall pass along the road to- 
gether, teacher and pupil, chatting pleas- 
antly, and despite the old maxim we shall 
find it a " royal road." 



STUDY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE. 

The study of English Literature, which 
confines itself to a list of authors, giving 
data of birth and death and list of published 
writings, together with ad libitum extracts 
from the same, with straggling comments, 
may be of service in the way of cultivating 
the memory, and gaining points which will 
be of use in subsequent investigations. No 
proper knowledge of English literature, 
however, can be gained in this way. 

Of course, it is important to know when 
an author lived, for literature cannot sepa- 
rate itself from the life and history of a 
people. It is itself a vital exponent of the 
national life, and must be studied histori- 
cally. The age of Chaucer and Wycliffe 
must be familiar to him who would attempt 
to gain any adequate grasp of the literary 
career of these men. But admitting that 
the historical data are well understood, only 
then are we in readiness to take hold of the 
writings, which carry into the field of 
thought and art the spirit of the age itself. 

A few lines from Chaucer are not sufficient 
here. The preface to the " Canterbury 
Tales," and the tales themselves, should be 
studied, until the student has some intelli- 
gent grasp of Chaucer's characteristics— r 
his method of thought and art. This is 
specially necessary, when we have an epoch 
a.nd an author so fundamentally significant 
to the whole study of the English tongue 
and literature. Indeed, each age which 
constitutes an epoch in" the national life will 
assert itself in the realm of thought and art 
— will find expression for itself in the litera- 
ture thereof. And such epochs demand a 
fuller and more careful survey than the in- 
tervening periods. For purposes of ordinary 
study, it will not be necessary to extend the 
survey to fragmentary literary efforts, which 
are not in themselves significant in charac- 
terizing an age or period. 

After an earnest examination of Chaucer 
and Wycliffe, in which the student has 
gained some grasp of the language and lit- 
erary characteristics of the great exponents 



of the opening literary life of England in 
the vernacular tongue, the great epoch of 
the Reformation, toward which as beaconing 
stars both Chaucer and Wycliffe led the way, 
can next be taken up, and Spenser and the 
dramatic glory of Queen Elizabeth's reign 
come under careful survey ; not, however, 
in the way of mere straggling fragments. 
The fading glory of the old chivalric period, 
with its tourneys and feudal splendors, must 
be seen revived in inner spiritual forms in 
the Faery Queen of Spenser; and the new 
awakening of life through the discovery of 
a distant and romantic world, together with 
the fervor of new religious convictions in 
reference to the meaning of our earthly life, 
must be found interweaving themselves 
throughout the magic structure of his verse. 

To this great epoch, in which the will and 
intellect of the English national life was 
never before so aroused, asserting itself not 
only in acts but in forms of literature no less 
significant and grand, the student must be 
directed with great care; and a whole year 
of most critical study will hardly be sufficient 
to secure an inspiring glance of its glory. 

In fine, what we plead for in this brief 
article, is such a study of English Literature 
as shall do away with all fragmentary mem- 
orizing of external data, and address itself 
to the literature itself; and that time shall 
be given to the work, at least as much time 
as is given to gain the elements of mathe- 
matics or of science. It will be of service 
in studies purely historical and linguistic, 
and will awaken a reverence for the classic 
strength of our mother tongue, more needed 
in this fast age than ever before. 



THE SEEING EYE. 

The book of Nature is open to all. It 
abounds with lessons suited to every re- 
cipient power of the human soul — lessons 
of love and wisdom, ever widening before 
the vision of him who " hath eyes to see." 
How many of us, however, use it as little 
children do their picture-books, rapidly 
turning the pages, and, when the novelty 
of what reaches the eye is gone, casting it 
aside as too common for further regard ! 

The air we breathe, the light which sur- 
rounds us, the sounds we hear, the myriad 
forms of things, coming and going in per- 
petual change, are all every- day matters, 
recognized for the moment and nothing 
more, unless, forsooth, some pressing ma- 
terial want or business makes necessary a 
more careful and constant study. A stone- 
mason may distinguish between slate and 
limestone ; a carpenter, between pine and 



126 



DR. E. E. HI G BEE: IN LOVING REMEMBRANCE. 



oak : a ditcher, between sand and blue clay; 
a farmer, between garlic and wheat \ but 
even here the difference is a matter of mere 
surface recognition, depending more upon 
that which vanishes than upon that which 
remains. In other words, the reason of the 
world, the laws which uphold and unify the 
manifold and vanishing phenomena, not 
being grasped or even thought of, the forms 
of things only pass before the vision as so 
many strange and in fact unsolved hiero- 
glyphics. 

The boy, or man even, may stand and 
gaze with wonder at a train of cars rushing 
past him with its thunderous roar, who never 
for a moment has realized how the whole 
earth on which he treads is spinning on its 
axis, and whirling around the sun, and, with 
it, rushing toward other suns, whither as yet 
unknown, with a velocity which baffles con- 
ception even. He sees it not, for his eye 
sweeps not to the horizon of rising and set- 
ting suns. He hears it not, for its music is 
for other ears. How can we arouse him to 
a thought of it, that he may not go through 
life both blind and deaf? 

Again, the boy, or man even, may visit 
some great factory, and amid the incessant 
rattle of wheels and shuttles, gaze astonished 
to see the polished and variegated fabric 
unwind itself from a hundred looms, figure 
matching figure, and color blending with 
color, as though the machinery itself were 
instinct with life and reason ; and yet, the 
same boy or man may never have realized 
how out of the dark earth, hour by hour, 
the mosses and ferns and grasses and shrubs 
and trees are woven, figure matching figure, 
and color blending with color, in variety 
infinite and in glory unutterable. He sees 
it not, although he 

Treads on it daily with his clouted shoon. 
He hears it not, for there is neither rattle 
of wheels nor whirring of spindles. He 
heeds it not, save as it may minister to his 
fleshly needs. How can we arouse him to a 
thought of it ? How can we unsense his 
senses, that he may penetrate beyond the 
merely vanishing pictures of things? 

In the olden time, when the eye was un- 
aided by telescope or microscope, and when 
the physical sciences were almost unknown, 
seers did live who felt that beneath the sur- 
face of things there are invisible powers, 
gnomes within the earth and fairies in mossy 
banks, nymphs and fawns and satyrs in the 
woods, Oberon and Titania and their nim- 
ble troop. Then Prospero had neither 
buried his broken staff, nor drowned his 
book. But now the imagination is out- 



rivalled by the very facts themselves. No 
flower or flower-feeding bee fails to reveal a 
mystery awakening wonder and inspiring 
investigation. No beam of light or drop 
of water fails to challenge our thought, and 
yield us its thousand lessons. Step by step, 
whichever side we take, we are led into 
realms unknown, whose outlines of glory 
we only see as from afar, glowing through 
clouds. 

How shall we arouse our youth to the 
thought of this ? How give them the first 
moving impulse, the first wondering glance, 
the first thrill of investigating love ? I speak 
not now of technical science itself, but of 
the capacity for inquiry, that unsensing of 
the senses, which shall fill both eye and ear 
with the attention of intelligence, which 
shall cast off the wearying burden of mere 
pictures, and bring in upon the soul the 
awakening consciousness that the universe 
is filled with a wisdom and love which are 
divine. 

ARBOR DAY WITH THE CHILDREN. 

I have reduced to writing what I now 
read, that, being printed, you may at 
greater leisure read it over, and make its 
suggestions a part of your thoughtful Arbor 
Day meditation hereafter. 

All of us, whether young or old, are 
blessed by God with many teachers. Lessons 
of almost infinite purport are spread out be- 
fore us to be read, if haply we have eyes to 
see. Voices of most profound significance 
are filling the vast orb of nature, to be 
heard, if haply we have ears to hear. By 
seeking we may find, if we have hearts to 
understand, 

" Tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, 
Sermons in stones, and good in everything." 

First our own mother-tongue confronts us 
at the very cradle, accompanying the loving 
glance of her, the remembered tones of 
whose lullaby grow dearer as the years go 
by. This mother-tongue continues with us 
every hour as we emerge from infancy to 
youth, and from youth to manhood or wo- 
manhood. We hear it at home and abroad, 
on the play-ground and in the street. 
Everywhere, and at all times, it meets us, 
and by hidden processes enters into all our 
affections — into every movement of our 
inner spirit, giving prompt and proper 
utterance to what otherwise would be silent 
and alone. Who can rightly measure its 

First Arbor Day address delivered by Dr. E. E. 
Higbee, State Superintendent of Public Instruction, 
at Lancaster High School, April 16th, 1885. 



FIRST ARBOR DA Y ADDRESS IN PENNSYL VANIA. 



power? How long would be the struggle 
of each one either to grope into any ex- 
pression which might be intelligible to 
others, or to receive the thoughts of others, 
without such bond of communication ! 
What a lingering procedure it would be to 
gain or to retain the thousand concepts 
which now, through it, confront us at the 
very threshold of our mental activity? So 
much doth the soul, through the ear, drink 
in from our common mother-speech. 

But there are other equally common ele- 
ments which challenge us through the same 
sense-organ, touching not so much the un- 
derstanding as the deeper heart-life of our 
being. The plaintive minor of the myriad 
Autumn insects, rising as an audible mist 
from dewy meadows and lanes; the mur- 
muring hum of bees in the hedges and 
amidst the linden bloom ; the playful whis- 
pering of the forest leaves as they woo the 
winged winds; the brook "making sweet 
music with the enamelled stones;" the joy- 
ous song of the mated birds; the rush and 
roar of the mountain torrent and storm, and 
heaven's thunderous bass as it rolls echoing 
from the sombrous clouds; all this, and 
thousands more, challenging us all the sea- 
sons through, affect the soul, drawing it 
into endless fields of investigation or into 
infinite realms of imaginative meditation. 

If, then, through daily use by conversa- 
tion and study, we familiarize ourselves 
more and more with our vernacular, and 
thus commune with the thoughts of men, 
so also should we more and more familiar- 
ize ourselves with the voices of nature 
speaking to us from every side throughout 
our lives, and thus commune with the ra- 
tional, living soul of the Universe. 

But the world of Nature, which corres- 
ponds throughout to the world of Spirit, 
which is its source, is not apprehended by 
the spirit of man through the ear only. 
She has a language addressed to the eye 
as well. She finds an utterance not only 
in sound, but also through forms and 
colors of endless variety and gradation, the 
mysterious power of which no one can fully 
fathom. Just imagine for a moment a voice- 
less and blank earth, a mere barren empti- 
ness stretching out before us, the silence 
as of death brooding over the world. How, 
in such chaos, could we come into any 
sympathy with it? How could it touch us, 
and, while penetrating, thrill the human 
spirit? 

But add the hum of 'insects; the song of 
birds; the utterance of the many-tongued 
waters and winds; the voice of Jehovah 



breaking the cedars, and making them skip 
like a calf, and dividing the flames of fire 
as it thundereth upon the waters and shaketh 
the wilderness — and what a change ! How 
near it comes to our soul ! How it reaches 
into' our hearts, and takes hold of the deep- 
est sympathies of our spirit ! Now add to 
this the varying forms of grace and beauty; 
the grass and moss; the flowering shrubs 
and clambering vines; the waving forests; 
the painted clouds; the azure of heaven's 
vault; the rosy-fingered dawn ; the crimson 
mist of the setting sun and dewy twilight ; 
and mark how our whole being is drawn out, 
and all our affections aroused into an an- 
them of rapturous thanksgiving. 

Now that we may rightly appreciate all 
this, and recognize and feel its power, it is 
necessary that we take every opportunity 
to enter the woods and fields, and study 
Nature in her own retreats; to catch with 
erect ear the first throbbing of Spring, when 
the foetid wild-turnips and liverworts 
bloom, or the shad-berry and the dogwood 
begin to whiten the bronzed hillsides, or 
all the winding wood-valleys are purpling 
with the Judas-tree ; to watch with keenest 
eye the new life thrilling through the 
awakened grass and softened moss, and 
gilded willow-tops ; to come by an intelli- 
gent insight and sympathizing love into 
close intercourse with such blessed compan- 
ions of our life, and receive with susceptible 
spirit the thousand lessons around us, whose 
proper conning fills the mind with profita- 
ble lore, and the heart with ever- increasing 
delight. 

Every child should come to know the 
flower that frighted Proserpina lets fall from 
Dis's wagon, 

* * daffodils 

That come before the swallow dares, and take 
The winds of March with beauty ; violets dim 
But sweeter than the lids of Juno's eyes, 
Or Cytherea's breath." 

Every child should be familiar with our 
shadowy hills ; should know our trees, their 
names, and forms, and uses, — 

" The sayling pine ; the cedar proud and tall ; 
The vine-propp elme ; the poplar never dry; 
The builder oake, sole king of forrests all ; 
The aspine good for staves; the cypresse funerall;" 

should know the shrubbery through which 
the pheasants whir, and in which the 
thrushes hide, and which through sunny 
summer strew the mossy path thick with 
gold and prophyry ; should feel a hallowed 
kinship with earth as she reaches out from 
the womb of silent darkness heavenward 
j into light and life. 






/'/.' E. I: HIGBEE: IN LOVING REMEMBR i / 



in tbi world, the lowei forme 

bul little individualil y. Thi y affi 1 1 
n. m i heii i" ii' ral and massive i harai ti i 
alone. Thi bladi ol grass 01 stem of mosi 
i ,ii< hes not th( 1 oul's glani e, bul 1 he lawn 
01 in' . banks oi brooks, and 

quiel fei ny nooks where the red pai ti idge 
bei 1 i< ■ i" bI li and the ai butus hides hi 1 
umili 8. \ el the impres lion troi g and 
d< finite, and raaki s itsell fi 11 ai on< e in 
arousin oui sympathy, [n public parks 
and private yards, \«>w softly the sunlight 
sleeps "ii 1 he shaven lawn ; and how 1 he 
nds 1 "' rounding a si hool building, ii 
soddi d and 1 ightly ti immed, tell al on< e oi 
1 hat deli( ate taste and 11 ns< oi bi aul y whii h 
should, and whi< h does, < ulture the atten 
ik, 11 and hearl oi 1 hildhood. 

Shrubbi 1 y, in the bi ale of 1 hi vt getable 
woi Id, risi ■ highei , and gains in its asi 1 nl 
mii< 1 n lividualil v, and thus < omes 

in .in 1 1 h< symp tthii b oi mankind. The 
hl;i. , wiiii its fragranl • lu iters shading the 

1 1 1 1 r .' 1 y I "iml , ,.', I ilunin:, on hi I lir SOU I, 

when, '■■ ill s from home, oui gray hairs and 
in moling nei - es show how neai we are to 
the < 1 umble and dusl of 1 he grave, 1 low 

many tendei memoi ies, b! I" 1 less still, 

ai oni c arouse unl il ti ars dim oin vision, 
when we lingei again where " the jui< y 
hawthorn grows, adown the glade 1" rhe 
sweel brier, by the woodbine porch, grows 
bwi 1 tei still as il re< alls 1 he Bamted mothei 
who wat< ii< (l its growth, and whose fai • is 
now more pre< ious 1 /en 1 han in < hildhood. 
Bul the vii v .11 me <<i 1 he vegetable world, 
its heighl oi e> altal ion, wh< re it almosi 
si 1 . itsi H free from 1 he motionli ss 1 lods be- 
neath ii , and moves into 1 he sunlil air, and 
H joi( es hi its ii ei dom, is 1 he Tree . 1 tere 
reatesl individuality in its realm 1 1 
reai hed. The wide, massive forests, il is 
true, have theii varied language , bul the 
single 1 re< in itsell 1 omi a neai to us, hav 
in;; its name and history standing oui 
almosi as a pen onal < ompanion of oui life, 
in:. 1 in' 1 ivi iy we impi rsonate when 1 peak 
ing "iii [t si ems to be a hamadi yad. 11 
playi wil ii the breeze, and woa the birds 
to its gri en retn ats. 11 breast* thi stoi m 
and flings its arms defianl in the face ol the 

Wind'.. When llir inoniil.i in:, ami lull:, 

break into singing, 1 he 1 rees <>i the fii Id 
,l,i/' theii hands. 1 tsaiah iv, 1 • ) 

ii is mil Bimply its shapely im m, its cool 
ing Bhade, 01 its use i"i this or thai ; bul 
its whole intei ioi life, its seeming eflforl to 
break away from the fixedness <>i earth, 1 * > 
assoi iate itsell with the ah , and lighl , and 
lifi win. ii an above, to 1 hange with the 



' hanging si a ion 1 a - though il had a heart 
i" fei I and sympathize wil h all around il . 
ii 1 . this 1 hal draws il bo m ai to m 
ii .nl, 1 hal ii ■ es ii so humanly in all his ai 
fe< tion and a 1 ioi ia ions, hal i ves to il a 
.'.ri nl brotherhood, a tenderness more 
1 .1 iily felt than defined. Whal landmai I . 

ire, when in revei ie 
whii li are deal to memoi v I ' low, when in 
aftei years we revisit home 01 bi enes oi >ui 
,' hool day life and find thi m gone, we 
moui H as though we missed 1 he ; rei ting ol 
old fi I1.11 li iends ! They live as we live. 

'I hey have thru e> iti and theii entran 

And one tree in its 1 imi playi manj p is, 

[t» acts being AI firsi th 

Rooting its darl some way bi neath the sod ; 

And 1 hen thi sl< ndei sti m, ith grow ing sin ngth 

I'n imi" above thi earth il 

And then tin brani hful sapling etly sighing 

Willi winds, and rocl ing hull birds asli ep 

'I hal ,'.iily 11. stle in its whisperin 

'I In n largi 1 still, ■•■ il h fai 1 - inches, 

Affording shade i" beasl men, 

And gathi 1 ing moBS upon its ru I bai 

'l hen, towi ring aloft, il pla 1 b its part, 

Mi. 11, in ii nl all the woods bi nding > ! 1 1 10I 1 

I'. 11 down, and with its long, oui prea ling ai ra 1, 

Battling w ith furious BI 1 Thi ixth igi shifts 

Inin the lean and sapli ■■ bI i I ton ; 

: .im. 1 i.y the angry bolts ol heavi n, il standi 

Above th6 1 ising gi ni ration, 

All desolate, the strength anl 1 Red 

From its si il shanl b ; and its big m mly voii e, 

( ...in with 1 he thoui and leaves wl ii h made il . pipes 

And w in tli 1 in its bo 1. 1 .asl b 1 ol all 

'l hal ends thi bi ran I hi 

li loir falls md sli e] oblivion \ 

lans li lvi s, ans limbs, • ins barl , san 1 everything. 

Bul we musl check oui too long essay. 
■ iui ii 1 houghts as these we have d< emed be- 
in 1 in); Ai bor l lay, espei ially as relal ing to 
the young. While we would by no means 
neglecl on sui li an o< 1 asion to 1 ill atten 
1 ion to the greal e< onomii use - >1 forests, 
the pei lis attending theii wanton desti uc- 
1 ion, the necessity oi prompl and wati hful 
care lesl I hrough 1 he rapid man h ol 1 ivili- 
zation we bring upon ourselves the very 

I vils we seek to avoid, and consume whal 
( .iiiii '... frei Iy gives us withoul any thought 

thai she may be 1 povei ii hed al la 11 as 

to Beek alms oi us ( for the growth ol fori its 

II quin b y ars, bul theii destrui tion scan 1 ly 
.1 day ), wlnic we would nol neglei 1 reflec 

1 1 sui ii as 1 hese, and would keep up from 

J < .1 1 lo ye.n .1 :,|Hi lird .ind < oik vi led ;k I ion 

.1; ■. . 1 1 1 1 : 1 langers l>y planl ing along road- 

sidi s, in pai ks and vards, and around every 
si hool building, 1 rees, and shrubs, and vines, 
and dower, ; yel we would, with 1 pedal em 
phasis, < all the < hildren to a wholesome con- 
verse with Nature herself: would withdraw 



REDOJ.l.NT OF WIIP WOODS I Y/> A/OC.VTA/NS. 



them from the restraints of hooks and recita- 
tion tasks, and woo them to her shady haunts, 
her valleys and lulls, to deepen in their souls 

a sense of her life and a delight in her beauty, 
and some clear and sympathetic feeling ol 
perpetual companionship; we would take 
them to the deep ravines, though themselves 
scarcely so tall as the brambly goatsbeard 

growing there; and they should scale the 

:,c ai i y heights and gaze delighted on the 
billowy green below j they should know each 

jutting rock, and mOS8-lipped spring, and 

foamy torreni ; they should ramble over the 
rolling lull;., or look upon the reddening 
flush oi clovei fields, or watch the ripples 

running over the wind touched wheat ; they 

should mark each willowy creek, following 

it until through laurel hlooin and hagrant 

bin h, hiit a brook, it leaps laughing from 

the shadows of the mountain; they should 
scan each winding valley until narrowing I" 
a wavering path it vanishes in the distant 
misty hills; they should hear the sparrows' 
silvery song thrilling the briery hedge, and 

see the bobolinks, with quivering wings, 

send down showers ol laptuious melody 
upon the <\t-w hent grass; they should leain 

to love Nature with such tender reverence 

as never to ahusc her or profane her; and, 
inspired by BU< h love, they should seek her 
help in making home, 01 School, or village, 

or city, a comforting delight, a culturing 

power, a pi< sen. e ol Ixauly ihiough life. 

SOME CHOICE THINGS MAINLY FROM P0ETU i 
MANUSCRIPTS. 

Here again l)r. I I ighee speaks lor him- 
self, lie has been called a poet, and thai 
he was. [t was his habit during a part oi his 
life to write shorl original poems in his let- 
ters to certain oi his nearesl friends. They 
seemed to he the offspring of the moment. 
These letters, iii his legible and beautiful 
handwriting, would often be illustrated with 

pen and ink or sepia drawings, as d< In ately 
done as those of Thackeray, presenting 
points in I he lands, ape ahout Iniii, or some 
faix dill skel( h Of ox ks and stieams, hushes 
and trees, sky and hirds- perhaps the hunter 
and his dogs, all exquisitely touched in and 
occupying hut little space. lie seldom 
allowed himself time loi any ainhitious 

effori in this field of letters. 

What he did seems hut a hint of what he 
mighl have done, with leisure lo devote 

himseli to literary work ol this kind. We 
make room lor a few pages, selected from 
his manuscripts, which will be read with 

rnueh interest hy his friends. Mm h of what 



is here given is now put into type for the 
in si time, and from his own manuscript. 
Mis own remarks, taken from his letters, 
pre< ede and follow the lines in some . ases. 

The first and longest poem is preceded hy a 

h iendly ci il ique wi itten by Prof. Win. M. 
Nevin, a line literal y and i lassii al s< holai , 

and himself a |ioel whom, lor the genial 

hi >r thai plays through his writings and 

for his charming personality, Dr. Higbee 
used to call the Charles Lamb oi America. 

A CRITIQUE AND POEM !. 

My Dear Friend: I cannol nil you with 
whal a zesl I have perused and re perused your 
<leiei table prelude to youi forth oming volume 
oi poetry, and, how its verses, nevei as yel hav- 
ing been sel up in type noi drawn in the leasl 

from any book, lull del ived in -diaii ly hum 

die i. hi I.,, e ol Nature herself, have em banted 
my soul, and m the reading ol them rejuvenated 
me foi tin- time by .ii leasl thirty yeai s, carl ying 
me fai bat k in theii magii ton e to the old 
familial si em s they so graphit ally desi ribe I 
|u, i as fri sh and blooming, too, do I find these, 
as they are sel forth in youi verses, as they mu il 
be even \\t,w m leafy [une to those who are be 
holding i in in, inn with this advantage on my 
part, rendered fai more hallowed and romantii 
by the charming glamoui thrown around them 
derived from pleasant memories and classical 
and mediaeval fan< ies, and fond assoi iations 
with wlni ii you have < lothed them. 

( )l llie wild woods and die inoiuilains lliey 

are redolent. There is nothing exotii here. 
The birds have theii own mellow notes and 
modish plumage, and the trees and vines and 
flowers theii own bloom and i oloi ins and fra 
gram e. They are all ra< y ol the sou, and ti ue 
to theii life and habits. 

Now I have been pleased, too, wiih your 
choice epithets and the harmonious flow of your 
verses, always in full a< i ordam e with the i< n 
iiim-ni expressed, and resembling in theii tone 
sometimes the v« i y lulling sound desi ribed, 

" like mui m' i hum ol bees 

Among the linden bloom." 

,,,111 i nisi des< i iptions are always subjei tive 
and logii al, being full ol life and love and ani 

illation. 

I ad e, besides, your faithfulness ol delinea- 
tion ol mountain s< enei y, espei iafly oi thai 
whii ii fell before youi eyes in youi solitary ram 
hie up the ( rap, to be apprei iated tally only hy 
sin ii as are familial with its grandeur and 
beauty, and youi employment ol the pentametei 
blank verse, so admirably adapted foi setting 
forth with truthfulness in English the natural 
simplicity and pathos oi idyllii poetry, and your 
happy allusions to I limb hidas in his seventh 
idyll, falling in so appropriately with your 
theme, the fines! piece oi rustu landscape 
painting to be mel with in the whole of Theo« 

I I HllS. 

Voni i Ii.ii nun;' e spoil ..il SOHg i • fully « < j • I - 1 1 

to the soaring skyfnk ol the Ettrick Shepherd, 






13° 



DR. E. E. HIGBEE: IN LOVING REMEMBRANCE. 



being indeed more richly tinged with the purple 
light of love. Do not delay the publication of 
your poems to the next century. Tastes may be 
changed by that time, and old scenes forgotten. 
They belong to this. In the meanwhile, send 
me, descending from your heights, that prom- 
ised song of invitation in the racy Doric, struck 
from the old lyre taken down from the peg, 
more correspondent to my capacity and genius 
not capable of lofty flights. 



Mercersburg, 1879. 
To My Dear, Dear Friend : 

Forsan et hcec olim mcminisse juvabit. 

Sweet was the song that Youth sung once, 
And passing sweet was the response; 
But there are accents sweeter far 
When Love leaps down our evening star, 
Holds back the blighting wings of Time, 
Melts with his breath the crusty rime, 
And looks into our eyes, and says, 
"Come, let us talk ot former days." 

Walter Savage Landor. 

How many years have passed, dear Friend, since we 
(I young, and thou renewing youth in age.) 
In love-knots tied the tender-bladed grass, 
Strolling along the banks of Conestoga. 
We then recall'd still earlier days, and saw, 
Imaged within, deep mossy dells, and streams 
Dashing with foam midst rocks and tangled vines 
From mountain sides that hlush'd with bloom of laurel. 
What rambles had we then through nodding fern 
And fragrant birch ! How, by the noisy Run, 
Amongst the winter-green and mountain pinks, 
Watching the crimson-spotted trout, we loiter'd ! 
All this we spake of to relieve the pain 
Of exile from this mountain girded town. 
The laurels still are here. Amongst the moss 
Th' arbutus wakens every Spring. The brook 
Runs murm'ring thro' the Gap, and thrush and lark 
Welcome the coming sun. But thou art gone, 
And wilt not come again. The trees and flow'rs, 
The birds and brook, and all the mountain-sweep 
And all the vale, from Casey's wooded slope 
To ParnelPs towering top, now weep and mourn 
The lost companionship of him who loved, 
And woo'd them with the rhapsodies of song. 
For me the glory of the fields has fled, 
And all the color faded from the skies ; 
And all the music of the woods is gone, 
And all the sweet light of the summer day ; 
And sadness broods like night on all the hills. 

What is there here that doth not tell of thee ? 

Each change of season through the lagging Year, 

From SpriVig to Spring again, utters thy name. 

Whene'er I meet the golden daffodills, 

Or find a liverwort amongst the leaves, 

Or shad tree lighting up the dull grey woods, 

They ask for thee. Whene'er the swallows come, 

Through April showers and the balmy air 

They seem to be in eager search of thee. 

The crab-tree perfumes all the woody paths 

Where thou hast been ; and through the hills 

The dews are shaken by the whippowill's sad song. 

The robin by the trellis'd porch has not 

Forgotten thee ; but in the twining rose 

Still builds her nest, awaiting thy return. 

Across the lane the yellow- breasted lark 

Flies fluttering, and wonders while she sings 

If thou yet lov'st the dewy clover-bloom. 



The turtle, through the hazy summer's heat 

Fills all the drooping branches of the elm 

With moaning soft for thee. E'en " skornynge" jay 

Cries restless through the glowing Autumn woods, 

And scatters acorns on the rustling leaves. 

The blue-bird lingers till the frosts have come, 

And then seems loath to go, not finding thee. 

The crows in flocks around the husked corn 

And stubbled field, hover disconsolate, 

While silently in feath'ry flakes the snow 

Falls covering the grass and all the trees. 

How much of toil we both have had since parting! 
How oft have clouds of sorrow dimm'd the sun, 
And robb'd the day of light ! How oft the din 
Of this strange life with discord has shut out 
The tender melodies of youth, and tried, 
But tried in vain, to hush the mighty voice 
Of music in the soul ! Whene'er I gained, 
Not oft, dear Friend, the merest snatch of leisure, 
A moment from the famine of my work, 
With eagerness I sought those cherish'd books, 
Which we had read and re-read hours and hours 
Together through the long, sweet summer days. 
What though thick clouds did muffle up the sky! 
These gave me light brighter than ever shone 
From sun or stars. What though the babbling din 
Of this poor earth of ours did rise and roar ! 
These gave me music whose deep-sounding tones 
Drown'd every discord. Could I not at will 
Join the good company of pilgrims bound 
From Southwork's famous hostelrie, — or hear 
With Romeo night-bescreen'd the angel voice 
Of Juliet, — or see the witches dance 
In Alloway's auld haunted kirk, — or gaze 
Entranc'd amongst the eager crowds that throng'd 
The tourney where the fair Rowena saw 
The fearful triumph of her Ivanhoe ? 
These plum'd my wings, and, far above the dust 
And blust'rous wrangling of the earth, I soar'd 
Into the golden mists of phantasy. 

'Tis strange, how, in the vision of the mind, 
We sweep beyond all limits. Space and time 
Seem to be subject to our own creation : 
And all the toil and bondage of the world 
Is left behind, as we at will retire 
And find a timeless, boundless world within, 
Where we can re-arrange, by some new law, 
I know not what, the thousand images 
And forms of things which meet the eye or mind, 
And which are melted down until the gross 
And sensuous pass away, and yet remain, 
Transmuted and transfigured into spirit. 
After some weary day of pain and toil, 
When all the sunlight fades behind the hills, 
And through the dewy meadows fire-flies light 
Their myriad lamps, and all the birds are still, 
Silent I creep into my silent room 
And sit there in the purple twilight brooding, 
Until, as by some superadded sense, 
I hear sweet music through the silence floating: 
Perchance the sounding harp of ancient bard 
At some baronial feast; or echoing tones 
Of Alpine horns ; or solemn midnight chant 
Of hooded monks; or far-off martial strains, 
As some wild highland chief exultant pipes 
His pibroch through the heathery hills. Anon, 
As in some waking dream, I know not how, 
I see tall plumed knights and courtly dames 
And rich emblazon'd halls ; or stoled priests 
By incensed altars kneeling, while the moon 



SELECTIONS FROM HIS POEMS. 



131 



Full-orb'd floods all the buttress'd walls, 
And pours a golden light on pictur'd saints, 
And martyrs carved in stone. 

How many years have passed, dear Friend, since we 

In love-knots tied the tender-bladed grass, 

Strolling along the banks of Conestoga ! 

And yet to me it seems but yesterday. 

My heart beat high, for that fair mountain-maid, 

Whose voice was tenderer than the song of birds, 

Was mine. The pledge was given ; and a kiss 

More fragrant than the bloom of mountain grapes 

Had sealed the vow. 'Twas paradise. The flow'rs 

Bloom'd brighter in the woods. The trees were full 

Of laughter on the hills. Leaf unto leaf 

Was whispering her name, and all the brooks 

Heard it, and leapt with wilder merriment 

From rock to rock ; and all the winds breath'd music, 

A golden light swept o'er the dewy grass, 

And Earth seem'd crown'd as for a bridal feast. 

I could but sing ; and even now the strain, 

By you forgotten long ago, to me 

Comes back again like murm'rous hum of bees 

Among the linden-bloom. 

Morn that the lovers love,. 

Meeting in leafing grove 
Birds that are mated as happy as they ! 

Far through the mossy woods, 

Op'ning the flower-buds, 
Rosy with blushes thou'rt fleeing away ! 

Swift as the winds you pass 

Over the tender grass, 
Panting with haste to escape from our view : 

Yet thy light step is heard 

Where the brown sparrow-bird 
Scatters his notes midst the silvery dew ! 

Haste in thy winged flight, 

Haste with thy golden light, 
Haste to the spot where the loved ones will meet! 

Waft with thy gentle breeze 

Odors of budding trees 
Round their fair forms in the cherish'd retreat ! 

Waken the timid thrush 

Out of his hiding bush, 
Making him chant with a glorious strain ! 

Give to the tinkling brook 

Smiles from thy sunny look, 
Welcoming back the sweet Spring-time again. 

Tell to the one I love 

Under the leafing grove, 
That I forget not affection's dear vow: 

Warm with a sigh of bliss, 

Give her this fervent kiss, 
Which for her lips I am giving thee now ! 

Swift as thy winged flight, 

Beauteous in golden light 
Summer will hurry and ripen the grain ; 

Then at the bridal call 

Just ere the crimson Fall 
Tinges the leaves, I'll be with her again ! 

A silly Spring-tide carol, born of love ! 
A wood-note blown from slender oaten-reed, 
Scarce heard beyond the wide-spread beechen shade! 
A kiss, thrown to the gentle winds of May ! 
Yet now, although the Spring of life has gone, 
And faded Autumn-leaves are falling fast, 
And all the mountain tops are cold with snow 
The thought of it and that fair mountain maid 
Who caught the kiss, and sent it back from lips 



Sweeter than any dew-bent flow'r of Spring, 
Brings that warm May-day here again. 

Love knows 
No change but that which makes it still more sweet. 
Earth may grow cold, and all therein : 
But love is not of earth. Another sun 
Than that which warms our skies enkindled it. 
When budding, oh ! how tenderly it blushes 
Half hidden in the leaves, afraid to trust 
The air with its great treasure ! But in bloom 
Unfolding, what a glorious show it hath! 
It meets the sunlight with exultant face, 
Color with color blending, till the eye 
Is dazzled with its glow, and all the leaves 
Are laden with the perfume which it brings. 

One summer day, brief months or more ago, 

Alone I wander'd up our mountain Run. 

Not famed Anapus through Sicilian groves 

More softly flowed, when sweet Theocritus 

Fill'd all the dells and winding hills with song. 

'Twas noontide when I reached the opening Gap 

Thro' which the whole broad mountain side, with road 

Winding through vine-clad rocks and chestnut groves 

And hanging birch, looks down upon the plain. 

The fragrant hemlock shade, and cool, soft moss 

Still wet with dew, temper'd the midday heat. 

The woods were all asleep. No breath of air 

Disturb'd an aspen leaf, and all the ferns 

Stood motionless, and every sound was hush'd 

Except th' unceasing gurgle of the stream, 

And some faint bird-call from the clust'ring vines. 

For hours I saunter'd through the blossomy paths, 

Knowing how rare it is that such a day 

Is granted us. I had no harvest-feast 

To draw me on as had Simichidas, 

Whom that Cydonian goatherd haply stopped, 

Until, with answering bucolic songs, 

They made the woods ring, and the list'ning Nymphs 

Think Pan was touching all his mellow reeds. 

For hours I saunter'd through the blossomy paths, 

Calm as the calm around me, but alone. 

Thou wert not there to touch with tuneful lips 

The waxen pipes and waken all the Nymphs 

And Fauns and Satyrs into revelry, 

Making the glen outrival Arcady. 

Thou wert not there to strike the trembling chords 

With potent hand, and, to their fitting realm, 

Bring Ob'ron and Titania, and send 

Their nimble troop all dancing through the shade 

Of mandrake leaves, or clambering up the stalks 

Of crimson-glowing cardinal flow'rs. 

Thou smil'st? 
Hast thou too with the rest lost faith ? Thinkest thou 
No Fairies sleep upon the mossy banks, 
Or hide themselves within the laurel cups ? 
That all the Nymphs have fled the shadowy glens, 
And streams, and fountains, and that Pan is dead ? 
Hast thou so soon buried thy broken staff, 
And drown'd thy book, like Prospero ? 

Dear Friend, 
This age is so immers'd in sensuousness 
It cannot see beneath the form of things. 
The Tabernacle in the Wilderness 
Seems quite enough — the Vision in the Mount, 
Where all the living substance was revealed 
Is heedlessly pass'd by. The earth is earth, 
And nothing more, mere body and no soul, 
A vast atomic mass, and not as once 
A glorious hieroglyph of Spirit. 
Summer has gone ; and now the woods are bare, 
Save the dark piny thickets on the hills 



I 3 2 



DR. E. E. HIGBEE; IN LOVING REMEMBRANCE. 



Which skirt the mountain, fill'd with winter winds. 

The snow, blown in the face of all the streams, 

Hath chill'd their song, and all the birds have fled; 

Only the horned owl through cold and storm 

Sits all the day alone in some dark clough 

Winking and waiting for the stars. 

I wait for thee, 

Canst thou not come, dear Friend, and with thy smile 

Chase all the storm away, and bring again 

Th' enquick'ning sunlight? 

Come, and fill my heart, 
Now chill'd, with all the warm, sweet blossoming 
Of daisies and of violets. I send 
To bring you, all my scatter'd buds of song; 
(Poor buds, that had not sun enough to bloom,) 
And add this hearty welcome, which the wind, 
Jn sudden flurry bursting through the door, 
Just snatch'd from off the dusty trembling strings 
Of that too long neglected Doric harp 
Of thine, left hanging here upon its peg. 



"FORSAN ET HAEC OLIM MEMINISSE 
JUVABIT." 

All scenes must close, yet, ere they go 

Into the past, they backward throw 

A light, which lingers till the spell 

Is broken of their last farewell. 

When morning breaks behind the hills, 
And all the east with glory fills, 
A star still trembles in the west 
Upon the mountain's shadowy crest ; 
Though fading, yet it lingers there, — 
Night's loving glance, and parting prayer. 

'Tis twilight where the stars arise, 
And darker grow the eastern skies, 
And farther do the mountains throw 
Their shadows o'er the vales below; 

Yet from the west the Sun still pours 
His parting light in crimson showers 
On clouds, which arch the golden way 
Through which have fled the Hours of day; 
And underneath most tender hues 
The daylight weeps away in dews. 

The growing grass and budding trees, 
The opening flowers and balmy breeze, 
The tinkling brooks and birds that sing, 
All tell th' approach of genial Spring : 

Anon, the Snow-king's parting glance 
Hath withered all the tender plants; 
The verdure from the hills is fled ; 
The pinks and violets seem dead ; 
And feathery flakes fly through the air, 
To tell that Winter still is there. 

The bugle's blast upon the hill 
From peak to peak is echoing still, 
And sweeter does the lingering strain 
Move back from rock to rock again, 
And softer does the wavering tone 
Through whispering leaves go murmuring on; 
Although the hunter from the trail 
Is hurrying homeward through the vale. 

So all things leave some mark behind them, 
Enabling memory to find them, — 
Some parting light, some lingering strain, 
Sweetly to call them back again. 

The past is present in the soul 
Though years in quick succession roll; 
And eyes, when dimm'd by age, can trace 
Many an old familiar face 



Whose smiles responsive will illume 

The gloomy portals of the tomb. 

The happiest hours of happiest days, 
Like sweetest lines of sweetest lays, 
Go with us wheresoe'er we go, 
And treasured long the dearer grow. 
Age spreads o'er Youth more glorious hues 
Than sunset o'er the gathering dews; 
And brighter do old memories rise 
Than rosy morn through dappled skies. 



The following lines are sent us from Mrs. 
Helen Motter, the venerable mother-in-law of 
Dr. Higbee, who says, " He wrote and sent them 
to me once when I was very ill." 

OH, SHEPHERD, GUIDE ME. 

Oh, Shepherd ! guide me through the night 

To day, and Heaven, and Thee, 
And round my pathway let Thy light 
In glory shine and make this darkness flee. 

Shepherd, guide me through the night 

To day, and Heaven, and Thee. 

Oh, Sheuherd ! guide me lest I stray 

From Thee, my dearest Lord. 
Teach me to labor, help me pray, 
And trust the precious promise of Thy word. 

Shepherd, guide me through the night 

To day, and Heaven, and Thee. 

Oh, Shepherd ! guide me till the hour 

Of sweet release is come, 
When the worn spirit, by Thy power, 
From sin and sorrow free shall reach its home. 

Shepherd, guide me till the hour 

Of sweet release is come. 



WHEN WE TWA LL MEET AGAIN. 

The mists gae o'er the hills, love, 
An' thick the rain-draps pour, 

And a' the little rills, love, 
Rin wP a louder roar : 

I listen to ilk sound, love, 
O' brooks and pattering rain, 

An' watch alang the ground, love, 
The grass spring up again. 

But yet I hae na smile, love, 
To greet the simmer rain, 

For I'm thinkin' a' the while, love, 
When we twa'll meet again. 

Ilk leaf is drippin' fast, lg)ve, 
The little birds are gone, 

An' until the storm be past, love, 
They hae left me a' alone. 

But tf' the birds might sing, love, 
The drippin' leaves amang, 

An' wi' their voices bring, love, 
The sunny hours alang, 

Yet now I could na smile, love, 
To greet their cantie strain, 

For I'm thinkin' a' the while, love, 
When we twa'll meet again. 

On a' the yellow reeds, love, 

That fringe the murm'ring stream, 

Like little siller beads, love, 
The blinkin rain-drops beam; 



SELECTIONS FROM HIS POEMS. 



'33 



But they're not half sae bright, love, 
As the tears were in your e'e, 

When I bid you last good-night, love, 
An' kisst the tears away. 

Yet now I canna smile, love, 
For tears come like the rain, 

As I'm thinkin' a' the while, love, 
When we twa'll meet again. 

Whene'er I close my e'e, love, 

I'm dreamin' o' the past, 
An' sweetest tho'ts o' thee, love, 

Gae thirlin' through my breast. 

And oft I'm by thy side, love, 

Within our ain dear ha', 
An' ye're my bonny bride, love, 

Drivin' ilk care awa'. 

But ah ! I canna smile, love, 
Whene'er I wake in pain, 

For I'm thinkin' a' the while, love, 
When we twa'll meet again. 

We've walk'd at rosy morn, love, 

Alang the flowery brae, 
An' 'nealh the fragrant thorn, love, 

We smiled the morn away ; 

An' when the light did fade, love, 
And a' the winds were hush, 

We've linger'd i' the shade, love, 
To hear the chantin' thrush : 

But now I canna smile, love, 
The tears come like the rain, 

For I'm thinkin' a' the while, love, 
When we twa'll meet again. 

I'll hear thy merry sang, love, 
Ring sweetly through the ha', 

But yet 'twill be too lang, love, 
That I maun be awa'. 

I'll see that blinkin' smile, love, 
That plays within your e'e, 

And I'll ken full well the while, love, 
It brightens up for me. 

O, the joys o' ither days, love, 
Cheer mony a gloamin' hour, 

And are like sunny rays, love, 
To hope's young buddin' flower; 

For they tell o' joys to come, love 
When we twa'll be but one 

And in our ain sweet home, love, 
Thegither travel on, 

To the gloamin' time o' life, love, 
When the daylight fades away, 

And death ends a' the strife, love, 
That's marr'd our pilgrim way, 

While brighter thro' the night, love, 
Mysterious light is borne, 

Foreshowing that 'tis right, love, 
To hope for glorious mom. 

Ah! then I'll try to smile, love, 

And drown the rising pain 
By thinkin' a' the while, love, 
When we twa'll meet again. 
April 26, i8jS- 



The moon has set, and the silent stars are 
shining with mysterious loveliness. Perhaps 
they know that it is already Sunday, and desire 
to make the heavens more glorious in praise. 
I watch them in their mystic dance, and think 
that they watch me also. No wonder that the 
ancients were astrologers — for then the stars 
were in their youth, and may have looked 
far more bright even than now. Or is their 
youth eternal ? Do not they, like all created 
things, decay ? If they be the flowers of the 
sky, will they not wither also, and grow dark? 

THE STARS. 

Shine on, ye stars, shine on ! 
I love the merry sparkle of your eyes ! 

Tired with the garish sun, 
'Tis sweet to see you smiling in the skies. 

Lead on in mystic dance, 
Ye beauteous fairies of another land ! 

In festive pomp advance, 
For Hesperus hath given you command. 

Move with your twinkling feet 
Through the cloud curtained chambers of the sky: 

The day hath gone : and meet 
It is ye spend this eve right merrily, 

I know one fair as ye — 
She hath a merry sparkle in her eye; 

And 'neath the trysting tree, 
Hath often watched your joyous revelry ; 

And in thy golden light 
I can but trace the brightness of her love 

As through the dusky night 
Like her in peerless radiance ye move. 

Then shine, ye stars, shine on ! 
I love the merry sparkle of your eyes ! 

Tired with the garish sun, 
'Tis sweet to see you smiling in the skies. 

Fair flow'rs of golden light, 
Which deck the pathways leading up on high ! 

Open your petals bright, 
And let your beauty wander down the sky. 

Bloom ! for sweet thoughts of home 
Light up the twilight stillness of my heart ; 

And happy memories come 
Of her from whom I soon shall no more part. 

She loves your golden gleam : 
She with the merry sparkle in her eye : 

And oft by murm'ring stream 
Hath felt your spell, and love's fond ecstacy. 

I asked her for a flow'r, 
When we last met, as token of our love ! 

And at that twilight hour 
Pointing with sadness to the skies above, 

She made your beauteous light 
The never-fading witness of our vow, 

Calling you flow'rs of night — 
And hence I cannot cease to watch you now. 

Oh ! then, sweet flow'rs of night, 
Which deck the pathways leading up on high, 

Open your petals bright, 
And let your beauty wander down the sky. 



134 



DR. E. E. HI G BEE: IN LOVING REMEMBRANCE. 



BLANDINA SLEEPS IN GOD. 



In ages past, in halls and festive throngs 
The Theban minstrel seized the golden lyre, 
And by his magic touch Eolian songs 
Come pouring forth from ev'ry trembling wire. 
Alceeus waked no sweeter notes of love 

Amid the echoing grove, 
Where the rapt Sappho made the list'ning streams 
Repeat the softer murm'rings of her am'rous dreams. 

Of victories in Grecian games he sang ; 
Yet far above the tumult of the course 
The music of his rapturous lyric rang, 
Borne swiftly upward by a mightier force. 
No longer now such victories inspire 

To strike the golden lyre, 
Or joyous 'waken amid festive throngs 
As erst the slumb'ring sweetness of Eolian songs. 

No longer now such victories inspire — 
But there's a race which Hellas never knew, 
To wake to holier life the golden lyre : 
A nobler race, and nobler victory too — 
Such as of old the Midian Exile sang 
When Miriam's timbrels rang : 
A victory whose crown the Tishbite wore, 
When fiery chariots him to light eternal bore. 

A vict'ry too through suffering and blood, 
Gain'd by those martyrs to the heavenly truth, 
Who midst the storm of Pagan wrath, to God 
Their only hope did cling, while age and youth 
Were firm in faith through torturing rack and fire 

Against Hell's blackest ire, 
And took at last their crowns of life above, 
Made theirs by patient durance and by holiest love. 

Among the faithful few who moveless stood, 

When to the field Rome's mightiest power was 

brought, 
And gladly sealed with their own precious blood 
The faith for which the white-robed cohorts fought, 
She, whose brief epitaph among the tombs 

That fill the Catacombs, 
Some pious hand, beneath the holy rood 
Has cut with the sweet words, " Blandina sleeps in 

God"— 
She, martyr maiden, well deserves a laurel wreath 
To crown her contest and her victory of faith. 

PART FIRST. 

Softly the rising flood of morning light 
Pours over sloping banks of glowing mist ; 
Filling each vale, and covering each height, 
It moves with golden ripples from the east ; 
The birds' glad matins greet the glitt'ring stream, 

And waken from their dream 
The dewy flow'rs, and they their eyelids fair 
Open, while heavenward they breathe their happy 
prayer. 

The earth and air are joyous — but the band 
Of martyrs, struggling for their Master's faith, 
Kneel in the Catacombs, for Rome's command 
Calls them to .heathen altars or to death — 
A double sorrow weighs upon their soul, 
And larger tear-drops roll : 

* The epitaph of an early Christian martyr, found in the 
Catacombs of Rome. This poem was delivered before the 
literary societies of the University of Vermont by Dr. E. E. 
Higbee. 



They mourn a buried Saviour, and they seek 
No joy this last lone matin of the Painful Week. 

The dark time passes, and the hour of noon 
Brings blessings to the fire and Paschal light ; 
And now the aged priest in solemn tones 
Reads the old Prophets, while with fresh delight 
The catechumens hear the rapturous words, 

And all the trembling chords 
Of their young hearts pour forth an anthem dear 
To Him who when His children cry will ever hear. 

The holy man with solemn service meet 
Blesses the cleansing font ; and joyful there 
Before their simple altar they repeat 
The hallowed creed, and their loved Saviour's 

prayer. 
Renouncing all the works and pomps of Hell 

Through which man sadly fell; 
Upon their heads he pours the saving stream, 
Marking the cross, through which alone God doth 

redeem. 

Like flowers bent beneath the morning dew, 

They kneel in holy adoration now, 

And at their aged teacher's call, renew 

With hopeful trust and fear their solemn vow : 

But one bends weeping 'mid those chosen young; 

Her holy faith is strong, 
Yet in her heart consuming grief hath been, 
Her widowed mother hates the lowly Nazarene. 

His trembling hands in benediction sweet 

The holy father lays upon her head, 

And bids her go — Though we may never meet 

On earth again, yet by the Spirit led 

Through death's dark waters we shall reach the shore 

Where partings are no more — 
Go save the loved— God's peace shall not depart 
Forever from thy sad, and mere than widow'd heart. 

PART SECOND. 

Softly with crimson ripples does the flood 
Of light pour down below the western hills, 
While twilight thickens in the solemn wood, 
Whose leaves are whispering to the murm'ring rills, 
That soon along the meadows of the sky, 

In purest radiancy, 
The starry flowers will their buds unfold, 
And open here and there their sparkling leaves of 
gold. 

'Tis quiet sunset of the Holy Eve — 

Sweet hour for musing thought and solemn prayer ; 

To watch the sleeping clouds, while fancies weave 

Strange changing visions in the twilight air, 

To think of fading life and then of death, 

And all the joys it hath, 
If through a quiet eve and gentle sleep, 
It takes us to a morn where mourners never weep. 

But while the parting sun bids sweet farewell 
To hills, and woods, and to the rippling sea, 
She hurries hopeful from the darkened cell 
Either to deeper gloom or victory. 
She stops not in her course to watch and make 

The clouds strange visions take ; 
Her mission is to save, and swift she moves 
To her whom still the heart with holy instinct loves. 

She seeks her mother in the marble home 
Where joyously she passed her childhood's prime, 
And all unconscious of the night to come 
Spent the sweet moments of that golden time, 



SELECTIONS FROM HIS POEMS. 



=35 



That happy morning of her life, ere day 

Chased rosy mists away. 
But now that dawning light seems almost fled, 
And all its radiance which round her pathway spread. 

Yet holier light shines inward on her soul, 

And her pure eyes turn from surrounding gloom ; 

The fearful shadows rapidly unroll, 

For light eternal shines beyond the tomb — 

She walks into the hall, in hope and fear 

Breathing her fervent prayer 
That she who taught her infant tongue to speak, 
Might love the Saviour, and her heathen idols break. 

Kindly the mother meets her truant child, 
Seeing her weight of sorrows and of fears ; 
And, knowing not the cause, with accents mild 
She asks the reason of her struggling tears — 
And then while shades of night fall silently 

On city and on sea, 
The daughter tells that simple tale of love 
By which her heart and hopes were set on things 
above. 

How she had often met an aged man 
Who taught her of that wondrous Nazarene — 
How from the glorious throne above he ran 
To bear our grief, and take away our stain, 
How, virgin-born at Bethlehem, a star 

Led wise men from afar 
To bow before the manger where he lay, — 
Who would unbar for them the crystal gates of day. 

How he had made the lame to walk again, 
And blind to see; how he had waked the dead 
And called them from their graves, and how in pain 
No tongue can tell, his weary way he led 
To holy Calvary, where on the Rood 

He shed his precious blood, 
That through his agony our hearts might know 
Their awful guilt, and yet be cleansed as white as 
snow. 

How he had conquered Hell, and burst the grave, 
And through the everlasting doors above 
Went in exulting, and with power to save 
All who could trust in such mysterious love — 
How, led by such high story, she did bow 

And breathe her solemn vow, 
That all things earthly she would count as loss 
And cling forever to her Saviour's hallowed Cross. 

The mother, as she marks the solemn tone 
With which her child relates her simple faith, 
Sees that a high resolve before unknown 
Has made her fearless of that awful death 
So many martyrs suffered (yet with joy 

No pain could e'er destroy) ; 
She sees, and, in an agony of fear, 
Feels that her only light of life must disappear. 

PART THIRD. 

Often throughout this eve, in anxious prayer 
Blandina's thoughts to that dear refuge turn, 
Where neither sun, nor moon, nor stars appear, 
But all is dark, save where dim tapers burn, 
And shed strange mystic light upon the tombs 

That fill the Catacombs ; 
Yet where that Shepherd of the lonely few 
Prepares for the great festal morn with service due. 

In holy reverence his flock attends; 
But seeing that one gentle lamb is gone, 
Beneath his heavy grief the shepherd bends, 
And sends toward Heav'n his agonizing moan — 



" O thou great Shepherd ! when, when shall be seen 

Pastures of living green ? 
When by still waters wilt thou ever lead 
Thy feeble, sorrowing lambs in their extremest need ?" 

Thus like a mariner on desert sea, 

O'er whom the midnight storms in wildness sweep, 

And who through gloomy clouds no dawn can see, 

And only death beneath the angry deep, 

Does this worn pilgrim long for heav'nly light 

To cheer his stormy night — 
Yet still he trusts in that dear Master's will 
Who walk'd upon the sea and made its waves be still. 

But different scenes in Rome's proud palace hall 
Disturb the quiet of the sleeping earth : 
No words of prayer from trembling lips there fall, 
But shouts of drunken revelry and mirth 
Applaud the base decree, that when the night 

Gives place to dawning light, 
The Christians who Rome's haughty edict scorn, 
Shall die in flames, or be by savage wild beasts torn. 

PART FOURTH. 

The Holy Eve is past, and Easter morn 
Looks blushing through the rosy-tinted clouds — 
But hark ! what shouts are on the fresh air borne 
From out those merry and exulting crowds 
Which do the amphitheatre surround! 

And now, the fainter sound, 
Which comes like dying echoes through the air — 
From whose sweet lips breathes out that touching 
voice of prayer ? 

Amidst those crowds the martyr maiden kneels; 
She will not bow to idol Gods again, 
For power victorious over death she feels, 
And though the wild beasts rage, no fear of pain 
The holy courage of her peaceful soul 

Can in the least control. 
She kneels, and by her struggling mother there 
Breathes out to Heav'n that voice — it is her dying 
prayer : 

Hear, Saviour, hear, thy suppliant's prayer, 

Bending in agony before Thee ! 
Send heav'nly light to cheer the night 

Of those who lonely now adore Thee ! 
Thou who didst bear our grief, in this dark hour 
O hear, and save my mother with thy conq'ring 
power! 

Hear, Saviour, hear ! The hour draws near, 
I feel death's coldness stealing o'er me ! 
Thou whose dear blood the Holy Rood 

With purple stream stained to restore me ! 
Thou suffering Redeemer, in this hour, 
O hear, and save my mother with thy conq'ring 
power! 

Saviour, I die ! The opening sky 

Reveals that glorious crystal river — 
I go, I go, where palm trees grow, 

And golden harps ring out forever — 
Ye seraph wings that bear me to such rest, 
O take my mother to the Saviour's breast. 

Stay, daughter, near! I hear, I hear 

Strange music in the twilight ringing, 
I see the light, and Angels bright 

Before the throne all rapturous singing. 
O Saviour, hear ! I bow, I bend before thee 
And with my dying child, dying, adore thee. 



136 



DR. E. E. NIG BEE: IN LOVING REMEMBRANCE. 



O death, where is thy sting! And thou, O grave, 
Where is thy victory ? The sun may go 
With fading light beneath the ocean wave, 
Yet soon that sun shall rise with living glow 
And through the opening gateway of the east 

In royal glory drest — 
Move up the golden pathway of the sky, 
And take his midday throne of brightest radiancy. 

CONCLUSION. 

The morn which brings us to the empty tomb, 
From which the conq'ring Saviour joyful rose, 
Enrich'd with spoils, to take immortal bloom, 
The just reward of all his bloody woes — 
That morn of holy memories is fled, 

And silently now spread 
The shadows of the night o'er hill and plain, 
And quietly the stars take up their watch again. 

Yet she, the Martyr, sees nor shades of night, 
Nor stars that take their watch along the sky : 
She lives rejoicing in eternal light, 
And wears th' immortal crown of victory— 
And now that holy man without a moan 

Cuts on the solid stone 
Within the Catacombs, the holy rood, 
And the brief epitaph " Blandina sleeps in God." 
He knew that through the darkness of the night 
Blandina saw the glorious dawn to come, 
And died rejoicing, as its beaconing light 
CalPd her worn, weary spirit to its home. 

Ages have pass'd, and heathen Rome is gone, 
But still the lowly Nazarene is here — 
Ages may come, as many as have flown, 
But, still His conq'ring power will be there — 
Go, run with patience then thy Heavenly race, 

Thou trembling child of grace — 
Soon thou shalt take that glitt'ring crown of thine 
Th' almighty hands are jewelling with light divine. 



CENTENNIAL POEM* 



dead, 



Breathes there a man with soul sc 
Who never to himself hath said, 
This is my own— my native land ? 

Sir Walter Scott. 

Thus sang the "Wizard of the North :" and all 

Who have a fatherland respond, Amen ! — 

The face of Nature even, which we greet 

From day to day, grows with the gliding years 

More dear and more familiar to us all. 

Her smiles and tears; her festive joy at Spring, 

When through th' empurpl'd air of morning rings 

The choral chant of the rejoicing birds; 

Her summer pride of waving fields and sunshine, 

And forests fragrant with the breath of flowers; 

Her dreamy rest at Fall, in robes of gold, 

And drapery envermeil'd by the frost, 

When from the thymy fields the drowsy hum 

Of insects rises like a dewy mist; 

Her cold and death-like sleep at winter-tide, 

Wrapp'd in white winding-sheets of drifted snow, 

While the rude winds with noisy minstrelsy 

Keep up perpetual dirge ; these images 

Of sense which with the seasons come and go, 

* Delivered by Rev. E. E. Higbee, D. D., then President of 
Mercersburg College, at the Centennial Celebration at Cham- 
bersburg, July 4th, 1876, of the hundredth anniversary of the 
Declaration of Independence. 



All, with a mighty and yet silent power 

Enter the study of our phantasy, 

And come to be for youth and hoary age, 

An ever sweet companionship; and form 

The content, and the precious heritage, 

Of what we love as our own fatherland. 

The hills around us, from whose sombre shade, 

Weeping with dew, we hear the whippowill's 

Sad chant ; the mountains midst whose fragrant vines, 

And moss, and nodding ferns, and tangled laurel, 

The streams go flashing with their sunlit foam, — 

Or where we wond'ring watch the early mist 

Sweep o'er the billowy green, and rising leave 

The drenched tree-tops; till at last it melts 

Into the golden glory oi the dawn; 

The meadows luscious with the purple clover, 

Hedg'd with the gadding briers, and tufted starwort, 

And vocal with the songs of lark and sparrow ; 

The orchards scatt'ring down their wealth of blossom 

In snowy flakes upon the verdant sward, 

Where wrens are chattering, and orioles 

Drop liquid notes building their pendent nests, 

And transient warblers linger on their way 

To waving forests of the colder north; 

The creeks now sweeping by high crumbling bluffs 

Where hangs the snowy dog wood, and where sleep 

The blue-eyed liverworts on beds of bronze, 

Or now, slow-winding by the golden sand 

Through chequer'd shade of ragged sycamores, 

Or clust'ring willows, or high-arching elms 

Amidst whose whisp'ring leaves embower'd the dove 

Moans for his mate, while o'er the Valley's deep 

Repose, transparent shadows of the clouds 

Are floating silently, and vanishing 

Like summer dreams; — these all deep in the soul 

Are mirror'd. There abide they ever fresh 

Before the mind's eye; and no time can dim 

Their glory; so that, wheresoe'er we are, 

Whether on sea, or on a foreign shore, 

As by some magic spell they show themselves 

And thrill the soul, and bear us swift as thought 

Back to the home and fatherland we love. 

Awake, O love of fatherland, awake ! 

And thrill each chord of our long slumbering lyre ! 
Bring back the melodies of home, and break 

The dull indifference, the cold desire 
With which we greet this consecrated day, 
And banish our ingratitude far, far away ! 
Ye music-haunted hills ! Ye mountains grand, 

Flooded with glory by the setting sun ! 
Ye gushing streams oi our own fatherland, 

Which midst the nodding ferns and laurel run, 
Sparkling with light all through the tangled gloom ! 
Ye meadows purpling with the clover bloom, 
And dripping with the lustrous, nectared dew! 
Ye earth and air, ye sky and heavens too, 
Into one grand, consonant chorus break ! 
Awake, O love of fatherland, awake! 



But not alone what carnal eyes behold 
Spread out around our pathway day by day, 
Nor what the sensuous ear drinks in of sounds 
That fill the very air we hourly breathe, 
Makes up the ever dear companionship 
Of country and of home. There is a life 
Of will and reason; — sounds etherial ; 
Visions that fade not with the setting sun : — 
Wrapp'd up and hidden in our mother-tongue ; 
Felt by the lisping boy, yet not reveal'd 
Save to his ripened manhood, when the deeds 
And thoughts which make his country's history 



SELECTIONS FROM HIS POEMS. 



137 



Beam in upon his spirit. Then he hears 

And sees, awe-struck, the marshalling of nations 

To this decisive battlefield of Freedom ; 

He sees the Mayflower, laboring with storms, 

Bearing to Plymouth Rock heroic freight; 

He hears the ever-busy Hollander 

Fastening his fishing posts and little wharves 

Where now are seen the navies of the world; 

He walks with peaceful Penn to Indian treaties, 

And, through primeval forests from the sea 

Crossing deep valleys, scaling rocky heights 

And cloud-capp'd mountains, to the streams that join 

And sweep far-reaching to the tropic Gulf, 

He marks with wond'ring gaze the broad and firm 

Foundations of this regal State; he sees, 

Flocking to these inhospitable shores, 

The frugal Swedes and toiling Palatines, 

The rugged chamois hunters of the Alps, 

And honest working journeymen of Darmstadt; 

He sees the cultur'd English cavaliers 

Facing the March winds on St. Clement's isle, 

Ready to rear upon its vine-clad shore, 

Or in the mossy wilderness beyond, 

Another holy Lindisfarne or Yarrow : 

He sees the persecuted Huguenots, 

" To bear their household Gods to Latium," 

Leaving their sunny France, and hurrying 

Into the gloomy oak-groves of the Cooper ; 

He sees, — and feels that these, whate'er their tongue, 

Were the great grandsires of his native land, — 

The noble Argonauts, who sail'd through seas 

Adventurous to happier shores than Colchis, 

And seiz'd a dragon-guarded golden fleece 

Richer by far than that which Jason won 

Helped by the potent herbs of fair Medea. 

Awake, O love of fatherland, awake ! 

Bid every chord pour forth exulting tones ! 
Bring back these olden heroes ! let them take 

This day among us all their well-earned thrones 
Of reverence, their crowns of richest gems, 
Their royal robes of state, their purple diadems! 
From Plymouth's storm-lash'd rock; from Pequot's 
bay; 

From Saybrook's loop-holed fort ; from rocky falls 
By Mystic stream and its wild madd'ning fray; 

From Salkehatchie's banks and bosky dells 
Red with the carnage of the Yamasees ; 
From Penn's " greene countrie towne" embower'd 

with trees ; 
From East and West, from South and farthest North, 
The gradsires of the century gone, come forth ! 
And into one high, joyous chorus break ! 

Awake, O love of fatherland, awake ! 



Our grandsires were but pilgrims: walk'd by faith, 
Not sight. They hardly saw the grapes of Eshcol 
Brought back by spies, yet fought the Anakim, 
Fierce giants of the woods. With longing hearts 
By forest camp-fires and in log-locked huts 
The pomp of Memphis they recall'd, and saw 
Again the cultured pasture-fields of Goshen, 
But wearied not. Pillar of cloud and fire 
Guarded and led them tow'rd the Promised Land. 
They fell'd the forests; till'd their narrow fields; 
Founded their schools, forgetting not the groves 
Of Academus and the painted Porch ; 
Reared sancturies, and from tow'ring spires 
Sent sounding through the misty hills and valleys 
The solemn melody of Sabbath bells; 
Built up their coast-land towns and busy harbors, 
Where, when they came, the fearless Indian plied 



Sportive his light canoe, and naught disturb'd 

The hush of twilight but the paddle's dip 

And murm'ring waterfalls. Patient they wrought ; 

Made laws and magistrates, and fixed the base 

Of venerable senates, with a skill 

Unequal'd by that fabled Tyrian Queen 

Who fled from covetous Pygmalion — 

But now, (and who can tell how much of light 

Lies hidden in God's darkest providence?) 

Britain's mad king and lordly parliament, 

Who should have priz'd this jewel of the crown, 

And striv'n to give it a still brighter lustre, 

Spurn'd it and barter'd it for temp'ral gain, 

And would have trampled it beneath their feet, 

Had not the Guardian Angel of our Land 

Swift interposed his mighty wings, and saved, 

With withering rebuke, the glitt'ring gem 

From such base usage. 

To guard this heritage of toils and tears, 

And hand it down free from tyrannic rule 

With countless blessings to the distant ages; 

To make their children's homes, homes of the free 

And not of bondsmen to a foreign lord; 

To raise the massive columns of a State 

O'er whose proud capitol should ever float 

In storm and sunshine Freedom's glorious banner, 

Our fathers boldly at the monarch's throne 

Threw down their gage of battle. All undrill'd, 

Sires and sons burnish'd their rusty swords, 

Rushed from their quiet hearthstones to the streets 

Of Lexington and Concord, bared their breasts 

Indignant to the charge, and hurl'd the taunt 

Of " rebels" back again in Pitcairn's teeth . 

With fiery vengeance. Like disturbed wasps 

Around their shatter'd nest, they yielded not, 

But darted on the foe. From barns and sheds, 

From breastworks frail of budding copse and trees, 

They fought, and drove th' invaders back again, 

And made that April day a day of glory. 

Up midst the northern woods where Horicon 

Pours out into the Glen its noisy waters, 

Heroic Allen seiz'd the grim old fort, 

Thrice batter'd in the Indian wars, whose ruins, 

Majestic still, cover'd with moss and harebell, 

Linger, and smile upon the charming bay, 

And catch the fragrance of the lilied marshes; 

Down by the sea-coast, through the summer night, 

The gallant Prescott and his toiling troops 

Threw up their breastworks of the dewy sod, 

And on the morrow drench'd them with their blood 

When Warren fell, and made forever sacred 

The memory of Bunker's Hill; and now 

Led by our greatest hero, — name immortal, 

Which neither monument of brass or stone, 

Nor storied page, nor poet's high-wrought song 

Can make more dear and holy, — led by him 

Through night and storm, defeat and victory; 

Through the sharp agonies of Valley Forge, 

And Monmouth's hard-won conflict; onward still 

With ever calm and skillful energy, 

Until amid October's fading leaves 

The siege of Yorktown and the war was ended. 

Led on by him, our fathers fought and conquer'd, 

And made this day and this Centennial year 

A nation's ornament and glory. 



Awake, O pride of fatherland, awake! 

Give to the lyre this day triumphant tones! 
Bid willing hearts and hands fresh chaplets make, 

And coronals of costliest gold, and thrones 
Of glowing amethyst, and rubies red, 

Meet for the high presence of the heroic dead I 



138 



DR. E. E. HIGBEE: IN LOVING REMEMBRANCE. 



They live again as in the days of yore ! 

They come from northern tarns unknown in song, 
From where the Mohawk's dashing waters roar! 

Allen and Putnam, and a noble throng 
Of fearless foresters come pouring forth, 
Belted like hunters, from the rugged North ! 
They come from Southern swamp, and sunny glade, 
Moultrie and Marion with his wild brigade ! — 
High in advance, where thousands folloiv on, 
Rides the great chieftain, the immortal Washington, 
And all, beneath the flag, to God thanksgiving make ! 
Awake once more, O pride of fatherland, awake ! 



But not the past alone is theme for song, 
Our starry banner still floats o'er the free. 

And hopeful pilgrims to our shores still throng, 
From continents afar, and islands of the sea. 

The voice of strife is hush'd ; and not a home 
Now hears the tramp of war, or clarion shrill ; 

But to our jubilee the nations come 

Bringing their peaceful products of long cultured 
skill. 

God's blessings still are ours. In all our ways 

He guides, Who saves mankind from sin and 
shame ; 

And thousand thankful hearts this day shall raise 
Exultingly " Te Deums " to His glorious Name. 

But time forbids that we prolong our strain. 

Back to our beechen shade gladly we go, 
There to recline, and meditate again 

Some rustic song on slender oaten pipes to blow. 

The willow-hedge, fed by Hybl?ean bees, 
And country calm, is our befitting realm ; 

To hear the woodman's song float on the breeze ! 
And turtles softly cooing from the airy elm. 



In a letter to a friend, dated March 18, 1853, 
he writes : " Will you please accept this small 
gift as a feeble return for your kindness and 
friendship, which I send with the hope that it 
may add to your pleasure in this opening season 
of Spring. The first ode or idyl is written in 
hexameter in the original, and in my translation 
I have used the verse of "Chapman's Homer." 
The first ode I have translated very literally, 
the second more freely : 

IDYL TO SPRING. 

From the Greek of Meleager. 

" Xei/Jarog rjvEfidevrog an' alBi/mr nixo/iivoto." 

The windy winter from the air his angry scowl has 
ta'en. 

And purple time of Spring has come with smiling 
flow'rs again ; 

The dusky earth, no longer cold, with growing herbs 
is green ; 

And blooming flow'rs, with new leaves clad, Spring's 
children sweet, are seen; 

The moisture soft of genial morn the laughing mead- 
ows drink, 

And in each newly-opened rose the sparkling dew- 
drops blink ; 

The shepherd plays his cheerful pipe along the 
woody heights, 

The goatherd with his greyish kids in rustic sport 
delights; 



Already on the waters wide the joyful sailors sail, 

Their canvas fully bosomed by the gentle zephyr's 
gale ; 

Already do the revels wild, with boist'rous mirth 
resound 

The shout of Io Bacche ! with clustering grape-vines 
crowned ; 

Their curious works the bees prepare, from bones of 
oxen sprung, 

And thick around their fragrant hives the busy 
lab'rers throng ; 

Now in their well-wrought cells of wax with cease- 
less hum they pour 

The white, fresh-flowing honey sweet — a dainty win- 
ter's store ; 

Clear-singing birds of every kind now wake their 

melodie, 
The swallows 'round the house-tops, the halcyons 

on the sea, 
The swan below the river-banks, and 'neath the stilly 

grove, 
Sweet philomel prolongs his notes of sadness and of 

love: 
If flow'rs rejoice with waving locks, and earth with 

green be dight, 
And shepherds pipe among the hills, and fine-haired 

kids delight; 
If sailors sail the azure deep, and Bacchus wildly 

dance, 
And flying birds with sweetest notes the list'ning air 

entrance ; 
If bees around their fragrant hives with ceaseless 

murmur sing, 
Well might my muse in concert too, rejoice in thee, 

O Spring. 

The original of the above, which I have 
closely followed, is, I think, the most beautiful 
pastoral poem in the Greek language. The 
following ode of Anacreon you read while I 
was teaching you, and if I recollect aright, ad- 
mired it very much. I must ask your pardon 
for adding two verses, the fifth and last. On 
account of my freedom in the translation, I 
thought them necessary to complete the whole. 
Tell Miss Virginia they will partially answer for 
the original verses I promised her, for Greek 
translations are more difficult to execute than it 
is to write what is entirely one's own. 

ODE TO SPRING. 
" 1th, nug sapor OavevToc." 

See how, sweet spring appearing, 

The graceful roses grow, 
Their tender shoots uprearing, 

With red-tipp'd buds below. 

See, how the waves of ocean 
Grow soft with dimpling smiles, 

And kiss with rippling motion 
The green and blooming isles. 

See, how the ducks disporting 

Ruffle the silv'ry lake, 
And cranes in flocks resorting 

Their annual journey take. 

Now Titan brightly shining, 

His rays unceasing pours, 
And fleecy clouds combining 

Refresh the earth with show'rs. 



SELECTIONS FROM HIS POEMS. 



139 



The shepherds now are tending 
Their flocks along the hills, 

And through the valleys wending 
Are heard the tinkling rills. 

With fruits the olive laden 

Bends downward to the ground, 

And for each lovely maiden 
The sparkling wine is crown'd. 

Where leaves the thickest gather 
Along each tender shoot, 

The faded petals wither, 

And show the growing fruit. 

Now on the grass reclining 
Where groves with music ring, 

The tender blades entwining, 
I sing to thee, O Spring. 



Once, in my college days, at the University 
of Vermont, I walked out in an autumn evening, 
musing, and scarcely knowing whither, until I 
came to a large black wood, where I was star- 
tled by the Tu-whoo ! of an owl, sitting on an 
old dead tree, just in front of me. I stood still, 
and listened over half-an-hour with exquisite 
pleasure, and then returned to my room and 
wrote the following. The voice of the owl 
sounded cheerful to me rather than sad ; hence 
I say " piping thy note so cheerily : " 

ODE TO THE OWL. 

Hail to thee, owl ! thou sentinel of night, 

That keepest pace with tongueless echo, shouting 

Whoo ! 
And put'st the wanderer to startling fright, 

Traveling the dark woods through. 

Thou art a quaint old songster, horned bird, 
Piping thy note so cheerily on that dead tree, 
Then listening to know if echo yet has heard, 
And will return thy minstrelsie. 

Tu-whoo ! sooth, that's a blast of noble sound ! 
And dost thou hear it rolling through the evening air 
And canst thou mark how wood and hills around, 
Thy note of warning bear ? 

To-whoo ! again? sure thou'rt'a queer old fowl 
To practice here thy song in solitary glee; 
Thou must be of thy feathery tribe a stoic owl, 
Thou carest little for society. 

I love thee since thou dost not boast thy song, 
lake birds of day, who only wish they may be heard — 
Thou never gabbiest with unbridled tongue, 
Thou art a modest bird. 

But when dim evening comes, thy voice doth swell 
Thro' darkening vale, and far along the moonlit hill, 
And echoes on, decreasing, through the dell 
Beyond then dies away — and all is still. 

Thou art at times a melancholy bird — [sere, 

When winds go moaning through the leaves of autumn 
Thy piercing note of woe has often stirred 
An unregarded tear. 

I love thee more for this, my chosen one, [swell; 
That thy brave, sturdy heart with tender thoughts can 
But now I leave thee in thy lonely home, 

And bid thee, though 'tis hard, a fond farewell. 



ODE TO THE PARTRIDGE. 

Thou art the sportsman's favorite bird — 
Where'er we pass, 
Through growing grass, 

In early spring thy voice is heard. 

When dew-drops sparkle in the sun, 

At early dawn, 

Along the lawn, 
Under the fence-rails thou dost run. 

In secrecy thy nest is made 

Beneath the hedge, 

And there the pledge 
Of thy fond brood is snugly laid. 

With faithful watch thou guard' st that nest, 

And keep'st thy young 

From every wrong, 
Gathered beneath thy downy breast. 

When summer days are sultry warm, 

In safe retreat, 

'Mid waving wheat, 
Thou strayest free from heat and harm. 

When autumn comes with ripening corn, 

And cool winds sigh 

Through stubbles dry, 
We meet thee at the early morn, 

Joining thy mates in social glee, 

Where brambles grow, 

And waters flow, 
Along the hillside joyously. 

In fine, thou art a lovely bird, 

And with delight, 

Thy clear Bob White ! 
Among the growing grass is heard. 



It has been exceedingly warm to-day, but a 
brisk shower has made it cool and balmy this 
evening. I have walked in the garden, and 
done everything I could, so as to not to feel too 
lonely. A little sparrow came out in the garden 
on the banks of the river and joined my com- 
pany, and sang as happily as if no one were 
absent. The sweet little bird ! I grew cheerful 
as I listened. As soon as I reached my study 
I could not resist the impulse of an ode to that 
little sparrow. It is hereafter your property. 
Treat it kindly. 

ODE TO A SPARROW. 
Singing in the Garden Sunday Evening. 

O thou sweet, cheerful bird ! 
Why warblest thou this holy eve so long ? 
What spirit in thy bosom so hath stirred 

The spring of rapt'rous song? 

Why, too, at rosy dawn, 
When mists still sleep along the woody hill, 
Do thy blithe notes from out the grassy lawn 

In joyous welcome thrill ? 

E'en when the wild winds blow, 
Calmly retiring to thy quiet nest, 
Thou lettest wild winds rock thee to and fro 

To happy, tuneful rest. 



140 



DR. E. E. BIG BEE: IN LOVING REMEMBRANCE. 



And when the storm goes by, 
Thou comest singing sweeter than before, 
Mingling thine ever- cheerful melody 

With its departing roar. 

Canst thou with pious thought 
Admire the morning's blush, or evening's glow ? 
And, by mysterious, holy instinct taught, 

Praise they Creator so ? 

Or canst thou, when the wind 
Unheeding drives thee to thy nest again, 
Yet trust His care, and thus confiding find 

Theme for a happier strain? 

I know He marks thy ways, 
And that thou canst not fall without His will? 
But dost thou know, and thus adoring praise 

Him thy Preserver still ? 

O that my heart may feel 
All the warm gratitude of thy sweet song! 
O that my spirit may adoring kneel, 

And join that glorious throng, 

Who, like to thee, in praise, 
Within a happier paradise above, 
Warble by crystal stream immortal lays, 

Where all the air is love ! 

Sing on, thou cheerful bird ; 
Scatter thy notes amid the falling dew, 
For now the spring of rapt'rous song is stirred 

Within my bosom too. 

What though the night must come ? 
Death's but the shadow of that angel's wings 
Who flies to bear the weary pilgrim home 

Where song eternal rings. 



Dear Friend : I have been sitting here at my 
table for a full half-hour listening to the monot- 
onous chirp of a cricket. The musical creature 
must be somewhere underneath the window- 
frame. I reckon he has a fine nest there, and 
is now singing his evening lullaby. Sing on, 
thou little black, many-legged feeder upon dew. 
Thy song is as lonely as the autumn wind, but 
it is happiness to thee, and I will not mar thy 
pleasure. Like a poet, thou seemest to enjoy 
the melody of thy verse, or, like some pious 
anchorite in his lonely cell, thou singest thine 
hymn of praise ere sleep shall hush thy voice in 
silence. Sing on, I say, for I will not disturb 
thee nor thy song, but will myself cheer this 
lonely hour in writing one who loveth thee, I 
trust, and all things beautiful. 

ODE TO A CRICKET. 

Sing on, thou hidden songster ! for thy voice 

Sounds lonely as the sighing autumn wind, 
But still in lonely song thou dost rejoice 

To speak the burden of thy thoughtful mind. 
Pour forth the music of thy tuneful breast, 
And in its dying cadence sink to rest. 

Perhaps thy thoughts go backward to the time of 
spring, 
When merrily thou fed'st upon the honeyed dew, 
And to thy mem'ry sweet rem'niscence bring 

Of other days when underneath the purpling hue 
Of vernal eves, thou sang'st a livelier lay, 
Nor ceased thy cheerful song till crimson light 
of day. 



Perhaps the loved companions of those happy hours. 

Still cherish'd in the fond affections of thy soul, 

Exert upon thy heart, as then, the self-same powers, 

And make the tears of song from out thy bosom roll. 

In this, I know, thou must be doubly blest, 

If past emotions leave an echo in thy breast. 

Thou art like him who listens to thy lonely song, 
And strives to cheer his heart with some respon- 
sive lay, — 
His thoughts go backward to the past, and linger long 
Around those scenes where memory still delights 
to stray ; 
The loved companions of those happy hours 
Exert upon his heart, as then, the self same po w'rs. 

Sing on, then, hidden songster ! for thy voice 
Sounds lonely as the sighing autumn wind, 
But still in lonely song thou dost rejoice 

To speak the burden of thy thoughtful mind; 
Pour forth the music of thy tuneful breast, 
And in its dying cadence sink to rest. 

Think not that I am lonely from these simple 
verses which I have written. It is only my 
muse imitating the cricket. 



CHRISTUS CONSOLATOR. 

Written to a Friend in Bereavement. 

In pain, O Lord, how sweet to know 
That Thou art near, with tender care 

To guard and comfort, lest ihe foe 
Should drive me into dark despair. 

Thine arms of sovereign love I feel, 
Embracing my poor struggling frame, 

And hopeful still to Thee I kneel, 

And breathe in prayer Thy precious name. 

O Jesus, source of life and peace, 
Sweet refuge of the weary soul, 

How near! how dear Thy promised grace, 
When waves of trouble o'er me roll ! 

In Thee, whatever toil or pain 

To test my patience may be given, 

Shall only prove to be my gain — - 
Helpmates to lead me on to heaven. 

One loving glance from Thee, O Lord, 
Calms every fear within my breast; 

One promise gathered from Thy word 
Assures me of eternal rest. 



ON HIS FIFTIETH BIRTHDAY, l88o. 

The Autumn of our Year, 
The 7 witight of our Day. 

How rapidly the years have fled ! 
How little of life's mission done ! 
Soon every blossom will be shed, 
And all the forest leaves be dead, 
And darken'd all the glory of the summer sun. 

Will not sweet memories be mine, 
Recalling all the bloom of spring? 
Will not fond eyes look into thine, 
And still their tender lovelight shine, 
With warmer glow than ever summer suns can bring? 

Who loves the garish light of day ? 
The dewy twilight's tenderer far — 
The summer blossoms tade away, 
But autumn is as sweet as May. 
And oh, the winter snows, how soft and white they are ! 



CULTURE GENUINE, AND BROAD, AND DEEP. 



141 



Then let the hurrying years pass by, 
And all the blushing bloom of May ; 
And let the Summer's green leaves die, 
And all the splendors of its sky 
Fade as the setting sun goes southward day by day. 

Thou art still here — so true, so fair ! 
The years have made no change in thee; 
Thy smiles — no flowers can Spring tide bear 
More softly bright. The Summer air, 
With all its murmuring leaves, is not so sweet to me. 

BEAUTIFUL MEMORIAL. 

The last issue of the Pennsylvania School 
Journal is devoted to the memory of Rev. 
Dr. E. E. Higbee. We have read with 
eagerness all that is contained in it ; with 
eagerness, and not without emotion — some- 
times with tears in the eyes. All of these 
tributes are most tenderly and lovingly, and 
some of them are also most beautifully, 
written. The voice of reverence, gratitude, 
and affection is in every one. There are 
those of which it would be a pleasure to 
make special mention; but where there are 
so many to whom one feels grateful for what 
they have said, it is impossible to make 
specifications. We would only take the 
privilege of saying that to us, as having had 
some part in those scenes and those times, 
what is so beautifully and tenderly written 
by Prof. J. B. Kerschner, of those old Mer- 
cersburg days, presents a special, mournful 
and pathetic interest. 

What has perhaps struck us most, in this 
Memorial, is the evidence which it contains 
of the profound impression made by the 
personality of Dr. Higbee upon those who 
were associated with him in the work of 
caring for the public schools of the State of 
Pennsylvania. What enthusiastic admira- 
tion, what almost filial affection, what de- 
voted loyalty, here finds expression in the 
letters of those to whom in the cause of the 
public schools he was related as their chief! 

How generous, how passionate sometimes, 
are the expressions and acknowledgments 
here made, by superintendents and teachers, 
of their indebtedness to him for lifting them 
up to a higher and truer conception of their 
calling, and inspiring them with new life 
and strength for the performance of their 
work! Surely it required a man, not only 
of extraordinary ability, but combining with 
such ability certain other extraordinary 
qualities also, to make such an impression as 
that of which we have the abundant evidence 
here. We have been specially interested in 
the testimony borne by those who were not 
at first, on his appointment to the office of 
Superintendent of Public Instruction, dis- 
posed to regard him with favor. They were 



naturally fearful and anxious for the welfare 
of the public schools; they questioned 
whether an exclusively college-bred man, 
who had not been brought up in the public 
schools, whose "previous experience had 
not been directly in the line of the great 
work that he was about to undertake," could 
properly sympathize with and represent this 
great public interest; they "had been led to 
doubt the wisdom of the Governor's choice." 
These were not unnatural doubts and fears. 
But how quickly, as is here testified, they 
were put to flight by contact with the man ! 
We have liked especially to read what is 
here said by those, as for example by Miss 
L. E. Patridge and Mr. L. E. McGinnes, 
who speak of their unfavorable anticipations 
at the time of Dr. Higbee's appointment. 
There is something particularly interesting 
and beautiful in their generous and warm- 
hearted acknowledgment of the incorrect- 
ness of their first impressions and the ground- 
lessness of their fears. "Ah, how greatly 
was I mistaken !" writes Miss Patridge, * * 
" how many times was put to shame my nar- 
row judgment, made before I knew his lib- 
eral mind, his just and upright soul !" For 
the same reason, a special interest belongs 
to what is written by the Hon. A. S. Draper, 
State Superintendent of New York, who, 
having first been repelled from Dr. Higbee 
by a severe criticism made by the latter on 
one of the county institutes of New York, 
afterwards came to understand him better 
and appreciate him more fully, and now 
writes of him kindly and tenderly. 

Without dwelling further upon the con- 
tents of this most interesting and important 
issue of The School Journal, we desire to 
point out two or three things which they 
serve to reveal, and which may be regarded 
as among the lessons to be learned from the 
life of Dr. Higbee. 

We mention, first, the exceeding value of 
a large, broad, liberal education. He whose 
culture is genuine, and broad, and deep, 
will not be at loss wherever he may be 
placed. It was perhaps natural to fear that 
a college or university man would not be in 
sympathy with the public schools; but the 
fear proved to be, in the case of Dr. Higbee 
at least, without foundation. And not un- 
naturally so. For the cause of education is 
one cause. There is no good reason why 
he who is interested in it at one point should 
not be interested in it at others also; why 
he who sympathizes with it above should 
not sympathize with it below. It is true, a 
little education may easily lead away from 
the people and their schools; but education 



142 



DR. E. E. HI G BEE: IN LOVING REMEMBRANCE. 



large, and deep, and full, invariably leads 
back to them again. 

We call attention, secondly, to the secret 
of the enthusiastic devotion and loyalty to 
Dr. Higbee on the part of those whose chief 
he was in the educational councils of the 
State. It was because of his kindness. He 
believed in his superintendents and teachers; 
he trusted them ; he recognized what was 
good in them. And, because of this, they 
believed in him, and trusted him, and fol- 
lowed him. He would seem to have made 
a conquest of all the educating forces of the 
State ; but it was a conquest achieved ex- 
clusively by kindness; by which alone, in- 
deed, may any real conquest be made. That 
which is noble in men everywhere responds 
instantly to the voice of him who believes 
in its existence and appeals to it with con- 
fidence. It is a great thing to believe in 
men ; to believe in good men ; to recognize 
the ideal everywhere, clogged, and obscured, 
and oppressed as it may be by the raw and 
uncouth actual. The world needs nothing 
more to-day than such belief and such 
power of recognition. And, wherever a 
man of great ability possesses also the spirit 
of trustfulness and belief, being not only 
knowing, but also good and kind, believing 
in men, recognizing the good in them, and 
seeking to call them to higher and higher 
things ; that man's voice men will know, 
and him they will follow. 

Finally, Dr. Higbee's life is no exception 
to the rule, so often expressed in the Scrip- 
tures and written everywhere in this uni- 
verse of God's, that there is no glorification 
without previous humiliation. The very 
bitterness through which he passed had, as is 
shown in this Memorial, much to do with 
exalting his name. And not only his name, 
but also his character. The tempest of de- 
traction through which he at one time passed 
was not without exalting and glorifying ef- 
fect. It may have had something to do 
with shortening his life on earth ; probably 
it had still more to do with enriching and 
maturing his character as a Christian man. 
We have somewhere seen an ancient saying 
expressing the belief of former times that a 
bell never obtained its settled tone until it 
had tolled for a funeral. This may not be 
true of bells, but it is true of men and 
women. A soul never gets its settled tone 
until it has made acquaintance with sorrow. 
The highest that is in us comes out not ex- 
cept in darkness and blackness and tempest. 
It is the old and everlasting law, that there 
is no crown without the cross. To Dr. 
Higbee's lot it once fell, as Prof. Kerschner 



says, "to eat his bread with tears;" and 
to him also it fell, without doubt, to know 
those "celestial powers," of whom Gcethe 
speaks in the beautiful and touching lines 
from which Prof. Kerschner has so aptly 
quoted. — Rev. Dr. J. S. Keiffer in Reformed 
Church Messenger. 



LOVE BUILDS THIS MOMUMENT. 

This Memorial Number is the most re- 
markable issue in all the thirty-eight vol- 
umes of The Pennsylvania School Journal. 
The present writer has made up and put 
through press every issue of The Journal 
during the past twenty-five years, and there- 
fore knows whereof he speaks. Once before 
a double number was issued — when a fire 
eight years ago swept everything away — but 
its contents were, in character, similar to 
those of any other ordinary monthly issue. 

The delay in this number has been, in a 
measure, unavoidable. We did not at first 
know how much space would probably be 
occupied by such matter as it was designed 
to insert. The work has grown steadily 
upon us, and form after form was printed 
until it became evident that the February 
and March numbers must be included in a 
single issue ; and even that does not include 
all the matter in hand which we should be 
glad to insert in the present number. 

We have had a very full report of the im- 
pressive memorial services held at Tiffin, 
Ohio, in the church of which Dr. Higbee 
was formerly pastor, and which stands as a 
monument to his energy and earnestness; 
also reports of a memorial service held in 
Baltimore, Md., and of services held else- 
where. Resolutions of School Boards, Nor- 
mal Schools, and Teachers' Institutes, have 
been received, attesting the high regard in 
which Dr. Higbee is held, and giving ex- 
pression to the sense of loss experienced in 
his death. But we are compelled, owing to 
lack of space, to omit this matter, which 
would be most appropriate for this number 
of The Journal. In view also of the large 
number of letters received from many kind 
friends throughout the State, Mrs. Higbee 
desires to take this means of expressing her 
grateful appreciation of the comforting 
words of sympathy with which they have so 
thoughtfully sought to lighten the burden of 
her heavy sorrow. 

Probably no such monumental tribute as 
the present number of The Journal has ever 
been paid to the memory of any other Ameri- 

This last tribute in Memorial Number of Penna. 
School Journal fitly ends the present volume. 



LOVE BUILDS THIS MONUMENT. 



143 



can educator. The range and variety of 
these contributions is extraordinary. They 
will be a revelation to many friends of Dr. 
Higbee who thought they knew the man, 
just as they have been to ourselves. They 
will for a hundred years aid in giving him 
that high place among our State Superin- 
tendents which is promptly accorded by 
those who knew him best; for this number 
of The Journal will be referred to with in- 
terest on the shelves of the Department of 
Public Instruction, and in the offices of 
Superintendents of Schools in Pennsylvania 
where full sets are preserved, long after every 
hand that has contributed to its pages shall 
have ceased to labor. As the " Good Sir 
James" stands out in the great Douglas line 
of Scotland, whose records run back into the 
dim centuries, so, in like degree, will the 
name and fame of Dr. Higbee become a 
tradition in the records of the School 
Department and the school history of 
Pennsylvania. 

Vermont has given to Pennsylvania two 
great men in Hon. Thaddeus Stevens and 
Dr. E. E. Higbee, and Pennsylvania is 
heavily her debtor. The former filled a 
very large space in the political history of 
the State and the Nation. In the eye of the 
world also he filled a larger space than the 
latter; but, grand as his record has been, 
it may be found that when the angel ac- 
countants come to reckon up the sum total 
of benefits conferred upon his kind by each 
of these great men, they will stand more 
nearly together than even ourselves might 
suppose. 

Personal affection and personal admiration 
speak here on every page, in every article. 
It is Love that builds this monument. 
Everywhere in the State these thoughts and 
feelings have been spoken or have awaited 
utterance. The School Journal has but 
afforded medium and opportunity for this 
magnificent expression of confidence and 
regard. Dr. Higbee was indeed grandly 
beloved and trusted, largely — let this be the 
great lesson of his life — because, in addition 
to all his other royal gifts and attainments, 
he had that which so many men lack — a 
mighty, an all-mighty moral purpose; too 
rare indeed, but which, when possessed, is 
the very crown of the highest manhood, the 
noblest womanhood. 

"And, O brother schoolmaster, remember 
evermore the exceeding dignity of our call- 
ing. It is not the holiest of all callings; 
but it runs near and parallel to the holiest. 
The lawyer's wits are sharpened, and his 



moral sense not seldom blunted, by a life- 
long familiarity with ignorance, chicanery, 
and crime. The physician, in the exercise 
of a more beneficent craft, is saddened con- 
tinually by the spectacle of human weakness 
and human pain. We have usually to deal 
with fresh and unpolluted natures. A noble 
calling, but a perilous. We are dressers in 
a moral and mental vineyard. We are un- 
der-shepherds of the Lord's little ones; and 
our business is to lead them into green pas- 
tures, by the sides of refreshing streams. 
Let us into our linguistic lessons introduce 
cunningly and imperceptibly all kinds of 
amusing stories ; stories of the real kings of 
earth, that have reigned in secret, crownless 
and unsceptred, leaving the vain show of 
power to gilded toy-kings and make-believe 
statesmen ; of the angels that have walked 
the earth in the guise of holy men and holier 
women ; of the seraph-singers, whose music 
will be echoing for ever ; of the Cherubim 
of power, that with the mighty wind of con- 
viction and enthusiasm have winnowed the 
air of pestilence and superstition. 

" Yes, friend, throw a higher poetry than 
all this into your linguistic work — the poetry 
of pure and holy motive. Then, in the 
coming days, when you are fast asleep under 
the green grass, they will not speak lightly 
of you over their nuts and raisins, mimick- 
ing your accent, and retailing dull, insipid 
boy-pleasantries. Enlightened by the ex- 
perience of fatherhood, they will see with a 
clear remembrance your firmness in dealing 
with their moral faults, your patience in 
dealing with their intellectual weakness. 
And, calling to mind the old schoolroom, , 
they will think : 'Ah ! it was good for us to 
be there. For, unknown to us, were made 
therein three tabernacles, one for us, and 
one for our schoolmaster, and one for Him 
that is the Friend of all children, and the 
Master of all schoolmasters.' 

"Ah ! believe me, brother mine, where 
two or three children are met together, un- 
less He, who is the Spirit of gentleness, be 
in the midst of them, then our Latin is but 
sounding brass, and our Greek a tinkling 
cymbal." * * * * 

1 hear him read, as one night, years ago, 

he read to me, in his study, chapter after 
chapter from the "Day-dreams of a School- 
master" — I see a cheerful fire in the low- 
down grate, and all familiar surroundings — 
his voice again with its old-time music, his 
quick eye, his fine expression, everything 
comes back — I see it, hear it, all — till slow 
the blinding mist comes down, and but one 
thought remains — Love builds this monument. 



144 



DR. E. E. HIGBEE: IN LOVING REMEMBRANCE. 



As to the office which Music is to perform in the 
Church : Here the " sphere-born harmonious sisters, 
Voice and Verse, wed their divine sounds" in 
divinest praise. If music be a legitimate element of 
our aesthetic nature, a legitimate creation of genius, 
it should be consecrate to God, as all the rest of our 
powers should be. Man in Art should bow the 
knee before God as well as man in thought or man in 
act. God demands the service of our whole being, 
not only the service of our wills and of our intellects, 
but also the service of our acts of taste — the service 
of those powers which originate the world of art. 
And here we must be allowed to say that music is | 



especially qualified to elevate us toward the infinite 
and spiritual. Sound in itself is almost spiritual. 
The spirit is like a wind, — we hear the sound 
thereof and yet know not whence it cometh or 
whither it goeth. Sound is not language : that is 
fixed and definite. Sound is not an object to be seen 
or handled and thus measured in relations of space ; 
it is a vibration without and within ; an almost spirit- 
ual body of rapid motion, whose only habitation is 
time. Hence music, using entirely such material, is 
so well calculated to both express and awaken relig- 
ious sentiments, which, though not indefinite, are yet 
entirely unconfined to the regions of things seen, and 



ON THE FOUNT OF LIFE ETERNAL. 



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German Choral. 

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4. There the saints of God, re - splendent 



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Ci - ty of true peace di ■ 

There no scorching sum - mer 

As the sun in all his 



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thirst; 

vine, 

glows; 

might, 




Yearn - ing, strain - ing, from the pris - on 

Whose pure gales for - ev - er o - pen 

But through one per - en - nial spring-tide, 

Ev - er - more re-joice to - geth - er, 

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Of con - fin - ing flesh to burst; 

Each in pearl - y splendor shine; 

Blooms the li - ly with the rose; 

Crowned with di - a - dems of light; 

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Here the soul an ex - ile sighs 

Whose a - bodes of glo - ry clear 

And the Lamb, with pur -est ray, 

And from per - il safe at last, 

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For her na - tive Par - a - dise. 

Nought de - fil - ing com - eth near? 

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Reck - on up their tri - umphs past. 



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5. There in strains harmonious blending, 
They their sweetest anthems sing; 

And on harps divinely thrilling, 
Glorify their glorious King; 

Aided by whose arm of might 
They were victors in the fight. 



r r ' r 

5. Look, O Jesus, on Thy soldiers, 
Worn and wounded in the fightj 

Grant, O grant us, rest for ever, 
In Thy bealific sight; 

And Thyself our guerdon be 
Through a long eternity. 



reach far away into the infinite and eternal. When 
the heart, then, is filled with those pure and holy 
sentiments which are impossible, save by the living 
breath of the Holy Spirit within, music becomes, as 
it were, a prayer of thankful adoration, and upon its 
wings, as by a gentle dove, the spirit is borne from 
earth towards God and heaven. Music, then, has an 
office to perform in the worship of the Church — 
which' is God's family, God's household. Through 
it the penitent, yet joyful hearts of the faithful give 
utterance to their own overflowing contents. Through 
it the feeble lispings of our faith join with the glorious 
The above old Latin hymn, both words and music, 



tones of the golden harps above, circling the throne 
of mercy and of grace rejoicing. Thro' it our hopes 
and fears, our joys and griefs, our all of religious sen- 
timents, go up and kneel before the Most Holy One. 
The truth of this has been felt in every age. Since 
creation's dawn, when "the morning stars sang to- 
gether and all the sons of God shouted for joy," to the 
present hour, Music and Poetry have bowed together 
at the altar of God and offered up their joyful and 
obedient homage, and so they will continue, till within 
the pearly gates of eterrfal day, the songs of Moses 
and the Lamb shall echo forever. — Dr. E. E. Higbee. 
was, it is thought, the favorite hymn of Dr. Higbee. 



MODERN IN CONTRAST WITH OLDER METHODS. 



145 



MODERN METHODS OF EDUCATION. 

While intellectual culture most certainly 
affects any given age, it is itself in turn, 
both in its methods and scope, conditioned 
by the same. The influence here is recip- 
rocal, and those interested in educational 
work are- constrained, on this account, to 
take into consideration not only the possi- 
bilities of mental development theoretically 
viewed, but also what characterizes the 
spirit of the age and people ; for this is sure 
to make manifest its needs, and press its 
claims upon the earnest attention of all who 
are engaged in educational work. 

In a barbarous age, for example, but few 
needs of intellectual culture manifest them- 
selves. No claims in the way of mental dis- 
cipline are pressed upon the attention of the 
mass. No doubt the capabilities of mind 
are there, but there is neither inward nor 
outward stimulant present to draw them into 
exercise. 

We find that the North American Indians 
were cunning and skillful so far as the range 
of their wants extended ; and there were 
diverse grades of excellence among them in 
all that characterized their surrounding life. 
Some were heroic in the fight and eloquent 
at the council, and some possessed wide or- 
ganizing and administrative power. So was 
it with our own Teutonic forefathers. They 
roamed the forests and marshes of interior 
Europe, bold and fearless, and confronted 
Roman civilization and Roman encroach- 
ments upon their liberty with such persist- 
ent resistance that Tacitus declared they 
might be beaten, but never conquered. They 
had, however, no literature, no cities, no 
civilization or culture. Undeveloped mind 
was there — a slumbering national genius 
which, when awakened, gave to the world 
its highest form of civilization. " Their 
rude Northern Sagas express the deep reli- 
gious feeling of the old Teutonic soul, and 
flash upon us from the darkness of the 
Northern night many gleams of auroral light 
and splendor" (Park Godwin). But it re- 
quired the lapse of ages before all this came 
to any proper utterance. 

Even in the civilization of the Roman 
world we find the range of educational pur- 
suit very narrow, and correlated on every 
side to the leeds and claims of the age. 
Law and oratory, which their wide empire 

A T ote. — After printing the preceding pages which, 
it was thought, would be the last, it seemed best to 
add an additional form of sixteen pages, so as to in- 
clude a somewhat larger part of the great quantity of 
matter that had been marked for insertion in this 
Memorial Volume. 



and world-embracing legislation demanded, 
were carefully fostered. Poetry and the 
arts in general, under the stimulant of the 
preceding and neighboring Greek culture, 
were cultivated. Mathematics engaged at- 
tention, so far as the immediate wants of 
the time demanded. Beyond this very little 
challenges our regard. The whole range of 
physical science hardly came into view at 
all. There was at times careful attention 
paid to agriculture. The Roman Senate, 
to foster this study, ordered the works of 
the Carthaginian Mago to be translated ; 
and succeeding the wars of the Triumvirate, 
in the peaceful times of Augustus, we all re- 
member the beautiful panegyric of Virgil in 
the Georgics ; but from the same we can 
easily see how little compass of science 
there was. Chemistry, and botany, and 
mineralogy, and geology, were almost un- 
known — entirely undeveloped — and indeed 
came not into the horizon of the studies of 
that age. The capabilities of mind for such 
investigations were there, but there was no 
outward demand to bring them into exer- 
cise and development in such direction. 

In the mediaeval period, after the over- 
throw of Roman civilization, the range of 
studies was of necessity very narrow. The 
Teutonic world was in ferment and agita- 
tion, and the whole interest of education 
was left in the hands of the monastic insti- 
tutions, which still preserved the precious 
remnants of the old civilization. Here the 
skins of animals were wrought into parch- 
ment, and in the Scriptorium of each mon- 
astery the choicest parts of Roman litera- 
ture were copied and studied. The rude 
monastic almanacs or chronicles became 
the germs of modern historical investiga- 
tions. Marshes were drained, and orchards 
and gardens cultivated by the laboring neo- 
phytes, and the rude material thus gained 
constructed into rude fabrics by the patient 
monks. What the church demanded in the 
way of art culture, as in music, architecture 
and poetry, was met, but the almost infinite 
range of modern investigation was quite 
unknown. 

When the vast genius of Karl the Great 
sought to organize the Teutonic world and 
give to its capacities room for proper devel- 
opment, schools were established at every 
cathedral church and in every monastery, 
and in his own court, and the most learned 
men from every quarter were seized upon to 
aid the work. Yet under his vigorous ad- 
ministration and impulse the range of 
studies did not go beyond the so-called 
trivium and quadrivium, the first embracing 



146 



DR. E. E. HIGBEE : IN LOVING REMEMBRANCE. 



Grammar, Rhetoric and Logic, and the 
second, Arithmetic , Music, Geometry and 
Astronomy. 

Even in the most flourishing period of 
mediaeval culture, when, under the influence 
of Greek writings introduced chiefly 
through the Arabs, the famous pentarchy of 
scholasticism reigned, it was possible for' a 
single mind so far to exhaust the whole 
range of studies, as to secure the title doctor 
universalis, which was unhesitatingly given 
to Albertus Magnus. 

How vain such a title now ! No one for 
a moment can indulge the thought of gath- 
ering up even the most fragmentary details 
of the boundless investigations of the pres- 
ent century. Myriad harvesters in myriad 
fields of inquiry are at work, and their 
gathered sheaves lie round us " thick as 
autumnal leaves that strew the brooks of 
Vallombrosa." 

In view of this more than Briarean de- 
mand of the age, what must be our method 
of education? We certainly cannot shut 
our eyes to what is around us. We cannot 
confine ourselves, if we would, to the nar- 
row limits of a semi-barbarous age, simply 
learning to read and write and cipher. 
Nor can we attempt any curriculum that 
shall grasp the wide expanse of studies which 
the age demands. Such an attempt would 
be even more foolish than the other. What 
shall we do ? What should characterize the 
methods of modern education ? 

We have endeavored to show how that 
the wants of modern civilization have made 
necessary an almost infinite range of studies, 
and how impossible it is that any individual 
should attempt to master or comprehend 
them all. An inference from this might 
hastily be made that we should, at the out- 
set of our school training, or at least at the 
very earliest period, direct the young to this 
or that special pursuit, as the bent of genius 
might seem to direct, and dismiss once for 
all the whole conception of liberal education, 
as this has obtained in former times. Is this 
a valid inference? We think not. 

All thought seeks after thought. If the 
manifold which confronts the mind has no 
intelligent content, no principle or unifying 
law, it cannot come under the investigation 
of science at all. What can reason accom- 
plish with the irrational ? The larger the 
field of investigation, and the greater the 
number of data, the more seriously will the 
necessity of bringing the whole into some 
rational unity press itself upon the attention. 
Facts are necessary, it is true ; but without 
the illumination of some guiding law, they 



must remain as so much useless rubbish, re- 
tained in the memory, it may be, but without 
meaning, and therefore unintelligible. Only 
by a thoroughly developed mind, which has 
trained itself to think with a philosophic 
spirit, will the truth underlying the ever- 
increasing manifoldness of investigations be 
reached. Such thorough development of 
mind, therefore, should be especially em- 
phasized in the present age. While ad- 
vanced schools of scientists, and of profes- 
sional men of every description, should be 
maintained, at the same time every profes- 
sion should see to it that only those should 
enter who have a broad and liberal scholar- 
ship as a source of strength for the work in 
hand. Things seen will not surrender the 
hidden truths of which they are the ulti- 
mates, nor reveal their correspondence to 
the spiritual, which is their essential ground, 
unless the seeing subject has a rational and 
spiritual vision to penetrate them ; and this 
is not gained by observations, however 
frequently made, but by that development 
of inward thought-power which is reached 
only through a cultured and vigorous per- 
sonality. Both will and intellect must be- 
come, in the broadest form, recipients of the 
good and the true, before effects can be seen 
in their causes, or the creation reveal its 
Creator to man. 

We need to keep before us also a sense of 
the oneness of our human life. We are not 
isolated individuals, or atoms aggregated by 
some foreign force. We are so many factors 
in the general organism of humanity, and 
can accomplish our mission properly only as 
our personality is made complete, and in its 
right relation to others. The development 
of self to a full vigorous life is vastly more 
than the subordination of self to some 
external pursuit, be this never so high. We 
may boast of conquering nature, and making 
her yield up her treasures, when in reality, 
with the bonds of materialism, nature may 
have conquered us, and may keep us helpless 
in her grasp. The end of life is not science, 
separately viewed, but the full realization, 
through our will and reason, of the meaning 
of our own being as from God. This cannot 
be reached without the highest culture of 
self, and not then without the continuous 
inflow of power from above; and on this 
account our educational work should begin 
with no end external to the personal life, 
but with the culture of the whole soul. It 
should begin with that which is broad and 
elementary; and this should not be sur- 
rendered until a high measure of inward 
personal strength is gained, to guard againat 



LIVING WORLD OF THINGS ABOVE, AROUND, BENEATH. 



147 



that narrow and narrowing pedantry which 
is making our social life so fragmentary. 

There is an old aphoristic saying, that 
" 7/ takes ?iine tailors to make a man." It 
will take nine lawyers also to make a man, 
if each has begun and ended with the study 
of the law. And so with every other pro- 
fession, if its definite investigation has not 
been prefaced by a broad, liberal culture 
which is an ever-present and invigorating 
fountain, giving to each divergent channel 
an ever-fresh supply. 

There is no true individuality save as the 
general is concrete therein. There can be 
no specific line of investigation which will 
yield results, except as he who pursues it has 
power to see and grasp the general. There 
can be no intelligent movement from effects 
to cause, unless the mind has power to grasp 
a totality in which both are as one. 



There can be no true scholarship without 
self-thinking. The mind, even in early 
youth, must reach beyond what is assigned 
as a task, and through its own power of at- 
tention task itself freely. So also there can 
be no proper development of practical inde- 
pendence, or character, without self-willing. 
The energy, even of the boy, must reach 
beyond merely external stimulation, and 
through its own activity guide itself. 

We need teachers, it is true ; for mind 
must confront mind, and will meet will, be- 
fore culture is possible. We need the 
moulding, plastic personality of great and 
good men to guide and inspire and bless us. 
We need also specific studies, and appointed 
hours of recitation, and hand-books which 
rightly organize the essential data of any 
given subject. We need all that " care with 
which the Lord hath begirt us round," to 
use the language of the sainted Herbert. 
We need, also, in the midst of all this, and 
to give all this its proper effect, freedom. 

We are not things to be classified in 
bundles, and put away here and there, as 
others may determine. We are spirit, 
self-activity, realizing its own content. We 
are not characterized by that with which 
we are filled from without, but by that 
which we come to be in the realization from 
within of our own potentialties. Our way 
of life is not the path in which, with tight 
guiding strings, others may lead us ; but 
our way of life is that which we ourselves 
make, not capriciously, but from a body of 
inward motivity formed through the upbuild- 
ing of our own character. 

We have made these remarks to bring 



into view the proper significance of Vaca- 
tion. In vacation the child is relieved from 
the ordinary routine of school-hours, and 
text-book recitations. He is freed, for the 
time being, fron these appropriate external 
bonds, which surround him and enforce the 
necessary presence of law, although from 
without. He is cut off from the ordinary 
bond of obligation and restraint. But yet 
these horce subcisivce are not to be hours of 
indifference, mere emptinesses in life's ex- 
panse. They have their office and their 
benefits. They are not in the interest of 
mere caprice and license, but in the interest 
of freedom, wherein the child, while resting 
from allotted labor, may become in a 
measure at least his own guide, and a law 
unto himself. 

Help him, then, ye teachers, in these 
holidays and vacant hours, to begin his own 
investigations, and make his own limitations, 
while guarded only against thought and 
will dissipation. If he has haply reached 
the threshold of botanic science, and 
touched with reverent hands the door-posts 
and lintels of the noble structure, let him 
freely enjoy "the vision splendid" after 
which that structure is patterned. Let him 
cast aside for a time the necessary scaffold- 
ing of terms, phyllotaxis, cryptogamic, pen- 
tastichous, etc., etc., and tramp through the 
meadows and woods and "worship Nature 
in the hill and valley, not knowing what he 
loves." Let him plunge into the running 
brook, and gather the moss which it kisses, 
and hear the sweet music which it makes 
with the enameled stones (Shakespeare). 
Let him drink in the whole wide expanse 
of nature, to make more real and whole- 
some his antecedent and subsequent study of 
physical science. Let him meet heart to 
heart the living world of things above and 
around and beneath, until his young soul 
trembles with 

A sense sublime 
Of something far more deeply interfused, 
Whose dwelling is the light of setting suns, 
And the round ocean, and the living air; 
A motion and a spirit that impels 
All thinking things, all objects of all thought, 
And rolls through all things. 

All this will help him to organize aright 
his own acquirements, and illustrate them 
with his own self cognized applications; 
and he will begin, forsooth, to question 
Nature and force her to answer his own 
heart- inspired interrogations, listening with 
ears not dulled by the sounds of class-room, 
but sharpened and erect, with the whole 
soul in them, eager to hear and to retain. 

Let the vacation free the child from the 



148 



DR. E. E. Ill G BEE: IN LOVING REMEMBRANCE. 



bondage of the school, but not from the 
noble aim which it has in view. Let his 
studies go on, but from an inward impulse 
which in part determines for itself the range 
of investigation, and selects for itself its 
own problems for solution. 

Every thoughtful teacher, before dismiss- 
ing his school for a holiday or vacation, how- 
ever short or long, will, with a free and 
genial exhortation, tell his pupils the mean- 
ing of such a season, inspire them to secure 
its incalculable benefits, and, if possible, 
he will himself join the youngsters in their 
seemingly aimless frolics, and without their 
knowing it, widen their powers of self- 
thinking and self-activity by his own 
broader culture and more self-possessed 
powers, until they feel the dawning glory of 
intellectual freedom. 



OUR EDUCATIONAL WORK. 

To meet the educational wants of this 
great State of Pennsylvania — almost an em- 
pire in itself— we have three great factors : 
(i) The Common Schools; (2) Academic 
and Collegiate Institutions; and (3) Pro- 
fessional or Technical Schools. AH these 
are equally necessary, and although not very 
closely related externally, their internal re- 
lation is intimate. No common school 
system can be well organized that does not 
take into view the whole estate of learning. 
The higher education towards which the 
whole development of mind directs itself 
must make itself felt at the very beginning 
as a plastic directing power; and all pro- 
fessional schools should rest upon a thorough 
and full academic course preceding, to give 
solid strength and proper self-possession to 
the candidate. All are indeed bound to- 
gether, and should not be severed any more 
than the root from the ascending axis, or 
that from the ripened fruit. 

We cannot now consider the relation of 
these three great factors in detail, but must 
confine ourselves to the Common School — 
the fundamental factor — the substratum of 
culture upon which the whole superstructure 
rests. From the fact that nearly all the chil- 
dren of the State are gathered into these 
schools, and come thus under that first 
systematic training which is to point them 
forward to their proper place' in the advanc- 
ing civilization of the world, the office of 
the common school teacher is of vast ac- 
count. The direction of a whole generation 
is in the hands of our public school teach- 
ers; and if their work is not vigorous, firm, 
and with proper aim, it becomes a failure — 



yea, more than this, it becomes a disastrous 
wreck. Look, teachers, at the possibilities 
lodged in the million children under your 
charge. Remember that from their ranks 
must come the ministers, lawyers, judges, 
legislators — the whole guiding manhood and 
womanhood of the coming age — all who 
are to fill, as we crumble into dust, the di- 
versified offices of civilized life. In this 
view, how important becomes the kind of 
start you shall give them — the sort of im- 
pulse and inspiration you may help them to, 
towards the true ends of life ! How much 
more to be considered than ' ' the three R's " 
—-the tools merely of education, not its soul ! 

Perhaps no admonition is more necessary 
in our day than this — Don't be in a hurry ! 
No fault, in my judgment, demands more 
immediate attention. As pedagogues we 
are apt to forget that we are not the child's 
only teachers. The flowers, the clouds, the 
winds, the stars, the whole universe — are 
teaching him, and we must give him time 
to feel their power and glory. Divine Prov- 
idence hath made him the nursling of these 
all-pervading presences, and we must not 
dare rudely to snatch him away. What 
authority have we to put a child of eight to 
calculate the difference of time between 
Hong Kong and Washington, who knows 
not as yet how feebly the revolving hands 
of the clock record the spinning earth as it 
whirls around the sun ! What right have 
we to task his mind with analysis which we 
ourselves can scarcely grasp, when the little 
mind is happy as it wonders at the august 
syntheses that surround it? By our ambi- 
tious hurrying and crowding we cripple and 
dwarf the children into precocious pigmies. 
Don't hurry, but let the life of the family 
and neighborhood, the impulse of surround- 
ing associates, the inspiring atmosphere of 
the mother-tongue, as it sweeps against their 
faces from the playgrounds and streets, the 
face of Nature smiling now benignantly upon 
them and now awe-inspiring with the grand- 
eur of its divine countenance — let all this 
join with your work in its gradual, sure, 
steady culturing power. Work not for ex- 
aminations, for the brief show of a moment 
— a transient and generally prideful exalta- 
tion — but, in view of your responsibility to 
God and the State, work for the future lives 
of those entrusted to your care, for their 
characters as men and women. Take not 
so much interest in perfecting the "system," 
and in its glorification, as in the perfecting 
of the child, for he was not made for the 
schools, but the schools for him. 

A word about the Normal Schools. We 



OLD IZAAK WALTON, THE GENTLE FISHERMAN. 



M9 



must have teachers. Parents cannot do the 
work. The clergy cannot, and, indeed, the 
Church is so divided in its confessions as to 
be unable to furnish any common confes- 
sional ground. Teachers the State must 
have. Where shall we find them ? Shall we 
pick them up at random, and put them to a 
work so significant, and so far-reaching for 
good or for evil ? While we pay large sums 
for the highest skill in analyzing oils and 
testing the quality of iron, shall we forget 
the greater necessity of skillfully-trained in- 
spectors and promoters of the growth of 
mind and soul ? We must have schools to 
give us trained teachers and superintendents, 
fully acquainted with the best methods of 
instruction, and with clear grasp of the phil- 
osophy of their work. Such schools are not 
for children, however, but for those whose 
attainments are already such as to enter upon 
this professional study with some conscious- 
ness of its particular import and responsibil- 
ity. Such schools, therefore, should have 
for their Professors the very best talent at 
hand — men not only of the very highest 
and broadest scholarship, but men of great 
professional experience. With infinite 
pleasure shall we hail the day, when, with 
such professional schools for teachers, we 
may receive the graduates of our Colleges 
and higher schools of learning as do the 
schools of Medicine and Law. The time 
may come, yea, ought to come, when our 
most learned and experienced men will see 
the necessity of furnishing our common 
schools with such professional teachers as 
can be safely allowed to guide and inspire 
and control the civilization of the age. 



A WALK THROUGH A LIBRARY : NO. V. 

Beautifully on the morrow did the rising 
sun pour his rosy light down Amwell hill, 
over the dewy meadow, "chequered with 
water-lilies and lady-smocks," where, true 
to their engagement, Piscator and Venator 
met to enjoy the exciting sport of hunting 
Otter. The former seems unusually enthu- 
siastic. He is determined that "no rea- 
sonable hedge or ditch shall hold him." 
Rare success, too, have the huntsmen this 
day. Kilbuck, Ringwood and Sweetlips do 
bravely : and when the chase is over, exult- 
ingly the whole party go to an honest Ale- 
house "to take a cup of good Barley-wine, 
and sing Old Rose, and rejoice together." 

Soon, however, Piscator with his disciple 
leaves, being eager to free himself from un- 
congenial irreverent associates ; and while 
journeying together, toward that shaded 
hole where the largest chub with a white 



spot on his tail was so skillfully caught, the 
time is not unimproved. Now as ever good 
Izaak Walton breathed out from his soul 
that gentle Christian piety which adds 
such charm and warmth to his inimitable 
style. Listen as he thus answereth Venator' s 
question relative to the host they had just 
left. I quote the whole passage as a worthy 
lesson. 

"And now to your question concerning 
your host. To speak truly, he is not to me 
a good companion : for most of his conceits 
were either Scripture-jests, or lascivious 
jests; for which I count no man witty, for 
the devil will help a man that way inclined, 
to the first ; and his own corrupt nature, 
which he always carries with him, to the 
latter; but a companion that feasts the com- 
pany with wit and mirth and leaves out the 
sin which is usually mixed with them, he is 
the man. * * * And let me tell you, 
good company and good discourse are the 
very sinews of virtue ; but for such discourse 
as we heard last night, it infects others ; the 
very boys will learn to talk and swear as 
they hear mine host, and another of the 
company that shall be nameless ; I am sorry 
the other is a gentleman, for less religion 
will not save their souls than a beggar's ; I 
think more will be required at the last great 
day. Well, you know what example is able 
to do, and I know what the poet says in the 
like case, which is worthy to be noted by all 
parents and people of civility : 

-Many a one 



Owes to his country his religion : 
And in another would as strongly grow, 
Had but his nurse or mother taught him so." 
* 
Not only doth the honest fisherman in 
this way give us at times direct and some- 
what lengthy homilies, but everywhere 
throughout his book, with the happiest free- 
dom, and choicest appropriations he teach- 
eth us the necessity of infusing into our 
recreations the spirit of Christian piety. 
When mine hostess, both cleanly and hand- 
some and civil, had cooked as directed that 
chub so skillfully caught, grace must be said 
before they fell to eating it. When there 
seems to be no way to use the cheven caught 
by the promising disciple in way of lesson, 
it must be given to the poor ; for, as Pisca- 
tor says, "it is good beginning of your art 
to offer your first fruits to the poor who will 
both thank God and you for it." And when, 
after catching the trout with unmistakeable 
mastery of the art, they are anticipating 
their joyful return to my hostess, there to 
meet Peter, "a good angler and cheerful 
companion," they must find some harmless 



iSo 



DR. E. E. HIGBEE: IN LOVING REMEMBRANCE. 



sport to content them, and "pass away a 
little time without offence to God or man." 
There is something refreshing to the spirit 
in all this; and we are not at all surprised 
that such a writer, when referring to any of 
his friends deceased, can so reverently and 
almost uniformly add "now with God." 
Time forbids our unfolding this peculiar 
characteristic of the " Compleat Angler" any 
further. 

Along with such pious contemplations, as 
is conspicuous from what has been already 
quoted, there is a peculiarly fine apprecia- 
tion of whatever is beautiful and lovely in 
nature. You find no florid language, no 
evident attempt to fit a thought to splendid 
and prepared drapery, no laborious effort to 
hunt out startling combinations and far- 
fetched analogies, but, on the contrary, the 
freshness and simplicity of Chaucer. There 
are no high flights of imagination, it is true ; 
no impassioned burst of feeling, but you can 
see the pastoral beauties of nature, winding 
streams, dewy meadows, brooksides with 
shady beeches and fragrant vines, indeed 
the all of gentle loveliness that the country 
giveth, you can see sweetly imaged in the 
calm depths of a pious soul full of the love 
of it, as you may have seen the crimson and 
purple clouds of evening more softly tinted 
far down beneath the unruffled surface of a 
mountain-embosomed lake. We cannot for- 
bear, quoting in conclusion one passage, 
illustrating what has just been said, and 
there we must part with good Izaak Walton 
and continue our walk in our next article, 
elsewhere and with other, although not 
better company. 

" Look you, scholar, thereabout we shall 
have a bite presently, or not at all. Have 
with you, sir ! O' my word I have hold of 
him. Oh ! it is a great loggerheaded chub ! 
Come, let's be going. But turn out of the way 
a little, good scholar, towards yonder high 
honey-suckle hedge; there we'll sit and 
sing whilst this shower falls so gently, upon 
the teeming earth, and gives yet a sweeter 
smell to the lovely flowers that adorn these 
verdant meadows. 

" Look, under that broad beach-tree I sat 
down, when I was last this way fishing, and 
the birds in the adjoining grove seemed to 
have a friendly contention with an echo, 
whose dead voice seemed to live in a hollow 
tree, near to the brow of that primrose-hill ; 
there I sat viewing the silver streams glide 
silently towards their centre, the tempestu- 
ous sea ; yet sometimes opposed by rugged 
roots and pebble-stones, which broke their 
waves and turned them into foam; and 



sometimes I beguiled time by viewing the 
harmless lambs, some leaping securely in the 
cool shade, whilst others sported themselves 
in the cheerful sun ; and saw others craving 
comfort from the swollen udders of their 
bleating dams. As I thus sat, these and 
other sights had so fully possessed my soul 
with content, that I thought as the poet has 
happily expressed it : 

I was for that time lifted above earth ; 

And possessed joys not promised in my birth." 



EXAMINATIONS. 

No more difficult task confronts the teacher 
than that of examination. As a test of 
attainment in any branch of study it is 
necessary, and may be of great value, or 
almost worthless, depending upon the char- 
acter and scholarship of the examiner. Es- 
pecially is this, true when the examiner has 
never taught the examined, and has had no 
knowledge of his power of thought, or gen- 
eral habit of study. 

Questions may be so constructed, or 
topics so assigned, as to test the memory 
alone, bringing into notice merely the re- 
tention of facts and dates and verbal text- 
book answers, — a disorganized mass of ma- 
terial, neither digested nor assimilated, and 
of but little use, in such form, to any one. 
Even in this case, an examiner of broad 
scholarship, by a careful survey of the 
answers, can detect, with difficulty however, 
the mental grasp of the examined. 

But again, questions maybe so constructed 
or topics so assigned as to test the knowledge 
of the examined and show how far his 
thought has grasped the truth of things in 
the given subject of study. The examined 
is thrown upon his own resources, not by 
puzzles to test his ingenuity, but by ques- 
tions that demand a knowledge of principles 
upon his part, and the answers to which 
must come from his own inner powers of 
thinking. Even in this case, it is difficult 
to form a correct estimate of scholarship in 
very many branches of study, unless the ex- 
aminer takes into critical survey the whole 
character of the answers given, the structure 
of the sentences, the English used, and that 
almost invisible thought power which the 
examiner, if a scholar, recognizes by a sort 
of intellectual affinity or mental sympathy. 

All examinations, in our judgment, if to 
be relied upon, should be conducted by an 
examiner of broad, sound scholarship, such 
as will dictate a series of questions calculated 
to test scholarship, and which will detect in 
every answer given the more hidden element 



SIMPLE MELODY OR HIGH-WROUGHT SYMPHONY. 



I5i 



of self-possessed thinking, rather than the 
most ostentatious power of memory involved. 

But in an examination to test the qualifi- 
cation of one desiring to become a teacher, 
how can an examiner assure himself of those 
ethical qualities, which, to say the least, are 
as necessary as are the intellectual ? What 
list of questions can he form which will be 
of any service here? The most that he can 
do is to detect in the personal presence of 
the examined, as well as in the general tone 
of his answers, that self-humiliation and 
reverence without which all moral life is 
dwarfed and blighted. 

But fortunately our schools are all under 
the personal and continued inspection of our 
superintendents ; and this, added to their 
examinations, should be sufficient to guard 
us against any serious immorality or great 
incompetence or waste of time in our edu- 
cational work. Let us labor to keep among 
our examiners men of the broadest and 
soundest scholarship possible, and men 
whose manners and morals are above re- 
proach. 



OFFICE OF MUSIC IN THE SCHOOL AND IN 
THE FAMILY. 

If, to be effective, the work of education 
must have regard to all the powers of the 
human soul, it should not neglect the imag- 
ination, or phantasy, which most certainly 
enters into the activities of will and intelli- 
gence in our earliest youth as well as in our 
ripened age. 

The world of art is no less real than the 
world of thought. While truth is searched 
often by a process of analytic thought, de- 
manding on this account a thorough disci- 
pline of the intellect ; the beautiful is grasped 
by an aesthetic intuition, demanding for this 
purpose a careful culture of the phantasy. 
In the one case we have the process of 
science ; in the other, the process of art. 
Why neglect either, when their source is 
the same? For, when by the phantasy, we 
see through and beneath the build of things, 
the primordial form governing all and in all 
manifesting its presence, what is this but the 
same truth in form which we reach through 
the analysis of thought ? The same glory is 
in it after all, in the one case authenticating 
itself as truth through the activities of intel- 
lect ; in the other case, looking out through 
the form, and revealing itself therein as the 
beautiful, through the intuitive glance of the 
phantasy. 

To the sphere of art, thus briefly charac- 
terized, music belongs, and addresses itself 



to that soul power which realizes the beauti- 
ful. The form material here in which the 
idea enshrines itself, and through which it 
is made to reach in upon the soul, is in itself 
almost spiritual — viz., sound ; and this is 
the chief medium through which the infini- 
tude and indefiniteness of feeling can come 
to an expression. Therefore, we may say, 
in brief, that music is the utterance, under 
sound-forms of sense, of the beautiful in those 
sentiments and aspirations which fill the 
heart, and thence gush forth like crystal 
waters from deep hidden springs. It is the 
outflowing of the feeling heart. While giv- 
ing body to emotion and sentiment, with 
their power thus made tangible, as it were, 
it penetrates the soul, awakening the depths 
of feeling and affection slumbering there, 
and leading the whole engrasped spirit into 
sad or joyful communings with itself, or into 
wondrous and visionary excursions into the 
vast past of its hopes and loves, or into the 
vaster future that lies before it like a far-off 
landscape in the evening twilight. 

Music, as such, employs sound, not speech, 
although the two are allied. Sound is 
vague and impressive, while speech is definite 
and expressive; yet it has beneath it a life of 
feeling which moulds not the word but the 
tone, and through it utters itself. Language 
challenges the intelligence, while music, in 
which the heart element of all thought is 
struggling toward expression, makes us trem- 
ble and glow, as the sounds sweep immedi- 
ately over the chords of affection. Music, 
we may say, in way of summary, is the work 
of that creative art- power which gives ex- 
pression to the beautiful of sentiment in the 
forms of sound intelligible to our feelings, 
and in this way only challenging the soul. It 
is as a spirit moving over the deep of emo- 
tion, now forming ripples and wavelets there, 
and anon, it may be, rousing the storm with 
the rush and war of embattling billows, and 
now saying at will, Peace ! be still ! 

It reaches its purpose in the power of im- 
pression. Although seemingly a paradox, 
its expression is just this power of impression ; 
for sound does not stand apart from the soul 
in way of form, but enters the soul, and ar- 
ticulates itself there. In this way music 
weds itself so intimately to the heart. This 
is its dwelling place; and no one with a 
heart can fail to come under its power. 

It needs no high-wrought symphony to 
touch the soul. The simplest melody can 
start a thrill of delight, or open the other- 
wise deep-seated fountain of griefs and tears. 
A lullaby at the cradle can bend in reverence 
the grey-haired grandfather, while it brings 



I 5 2 



DR. E. E. BIG BEE: IN LOVING REMEMBRANCE. 



before his vision a far-off home and child- 
hood. The Swiss mountaineer finds his soul 
in the echoes of his Alpine horn. The wild 
highland chief of Scotland saw the glory of 
his clan rising up before him while the pi- 
broch was sounding through the heathery 
hills. Who cannot recall Shakespeare's 
beautiful tribute to its power? 

" That strain again ! 
O ! it came o'er my ear like the sweet south 
That breathes upon a bank of violets, 
Stealing and giving odor." 

Who does not remember the equally 
beautiful passage of Milton ? 

" Sure something holy lodges in that breast 
And with these raptures moves the vocal air 
To testify his hidden presence. 
How sweetly did they float upon the wings 
Of silence, through the empty vaulted night, 
At every fall smoothing the raven down 
Of darkness till it smiled." 

The mournful wail of despair, the pierc- 
ing shriek of agony, the joyful chorus of 
mirth, the fiery rush of passion, the gentle 
whispering of love, the moving fulness of 
life, the silence audible of death, together 
with all the sounds which the soul of nature 
utters from waters and woods, from valleys 
and mountains, day unto day, and night 
unto night — how all these, now combined 
and now separate, as wrought by genius into 
creations of beauty, and sounding forth 
from instruments, or breathing life-like from 
heart and lips, can penetrate the deep 
foundations of nature within us, and even 
throw an Orphean spell over nature without 
us; for the shepherd's 

"Artful strains have oft delayed 
The huddling brook to hear his madrigal, 
And sweetened every musk-rose of the dale." 

Music, as we have just said, has a wondrous 
power of impression ; — power over thought 
and act, for it moves the inmost depths of 
our emotional nature ; — power over the 
learned and unlearned, for it touches the 
life of the soul far beneath all analytic pro- 
cesses of thought ; — power over high and 
low, for it strikes a chord which can be 
made to thrill in every heart. 

From this, it can be easily seen what office 
it should serve in the family. The family 
is the home of our deepest earthly affections. 
It is here that our whole emotional nature 
begins its development. Here we find the 
very fountain whence flow the purest, and 
strongest, and most lasting feelings of our 
life. We are in the family by the necessary 
relations of our being. Far back of any 
voluntary acts of our own conscious exist- 
ence it asserts its presence and power. The 



relation is divinely ordained, and demands, 
therefore, our most serious regard. Home, 
where we first live, and move and have our 
being — where the soul of each one of us 
opens up into conscious activity, where the 
whole being begins to bloom as doth the 
flower in its inclosing bud — home is the 
place not only of obedient acts of will, — not 
only of intellectual nurture and discipline, 
but also the place which the beauty of art 
should adorn, — where the "fair humanities" 
should reign, where all ennobling sentiments 
should be cherished, that in every possible 
way the attention of the household may be 
drawn from the grossly sensual to the super- 
sensuous and ideal. Music, then, when 
true to its nature as giving form to and thus 
suggesting sentiments, which are, perhaps, 
more powerful factors of our life than 
thoughts, — through the medium of sounds 
which equally delight childhood and age, — 
music, therefore, we repeat, should bind the 
fireside together with links of love, and in 
the throbbing hearts of the children awaken 
hallowed thoughts and resolutions, and form 
a body of lasting associations, expanding 
the affections of the soul, 

" Untwisting all the chains that tie 
The hidden soul of harmony." 

It is not out of place here to relate an in- 
cident which is said to have occurred in the 
early history of the Cumberland Valley, in 
this State, for it is a powerful illustration of 
what has just been said. By the sudden attack 
of a band of Indians, one of the frontier 
settlements of the Valley was overpowered, 
and a number of very young children car- 
ried away captives. After many years, 
moved, perhaps, by the loveliness of the 
child herself, the Indians brought back a 
captive girl, who, from her long sojourn 
with them, had lost all memory of her par- 
ents and home. The news rapidly spread 
that a captive had been returned. Two 
mothers hurried to the place, hoping that 
the returned one might be their long-lost 
child. Neither was able to identify her, 
and both claimed her. All possible means 
were used to bring the child to some recol- 
lection of her former life, but in vain. The 
wild forest life among the Indians had ob- 
literated all memory of civilized childhood. 
Every association of home-life seemed to 
have perished. At last one of the women 
(the real mother), remembering how assid- 
uously she had taught her young girl to 
sing a certain hymn, which had been pre- 
cious among the memories of her own child- 
hood, seated herself by the child, as washer 
wont in the years gone by, and began to 



THE FOUNDATION NEEDS SU SUPERSTRUCTURE. 



53 



sing the old familiar hymn. At first the 
child, now almost grown into womanhood, 
listened intently to the voice. As the sing- 
ing went on, the child began to tremble. 
Visions of home seemed Fo be filling her 
gaze. Old memories were coming back 
again. The bonds which a barbarous cap- 
tivity had thrown around her soul were 
breaking. Soon, with gushing tears, the 
captive cried out, "Oh, my mother, my 
mother !" 

Music, which had surrounded her cradle 
and her infant life — which had entered and 
thrilled the depths of her young soul — 
which had slumbered on the untouched 
chords of her heart through her long years 
of exile, now awakened and asserting its 
presence and power, — music, laden with all 
the perfume of a mother's love, and the 
dewy freshness of happy childhood life, — 
roused the whole soul into harmony with its 
past existence, and re-bound mother and 
child in a fellowship of sentiment and emo- 
tion far beyond that of thought, and as last- 
ing as life itself. 



THE PRACTICAL ELEMENT. 

We must not be understood, however, as 
desiring to divorce from our common school 
instruction the practical element involved in 
all proper educational work. The necessity 
of clear, accurate perception, challenged by 
direct reference to concrete objects, and 
made vivid and lasting by the hand aiding 
the mind's eye in tracing their figure and 
relations, cannot be too much emphasized. 
Vague word-forms cannot start into clear 
articulation the thinking of the child. 
There is a large field in all the elements of 
science for direct labor of this kind; but 
this is quite distinct from the work-shop, and 
has to do with knowledge, and not directly 
with trades or professions. Weights and 
measures are best learned by weighing and 
measuring at the start. The principles of 
natural philosophy admit of direct practical 
application and proof. Natural science 
invites the pupil to use intelligent eyes in the 
realm of nature spread out around him, and 
his powers of keen, critical observation can 
be cultivated in no other way. The handling 
of a bean in contrast with a grain of corn 
will open the eyes of a child to the differ- 
ence between a dicotyledon and a mono- 
cotyledon much more promptly than a 
memorizing of the terms. So also in 
chemistry and allied studies, the laboratory 
must be the study-room. Doing is but the 
purpose of the will carried into effect 
through the medium of the understanding, 



anti< is of incalculable advantage. But in 
this whole work, we must not forget that 
fact-lore is but little removed from word-lore, 
unless the presence of an interpreting mind 
meets mind enshrined in all the phenomena 
under observation. It is not the eye of 
flesh, however aided by instruments, but the 
inner eye of reason, that grasps the law, for 
law and relations for use are the Divine 
reason immanent in things. The educational 
process after all is an unsensing of the mind, 
that it may transcend the passing phenomena 
and see with clear vision the ever- abiding 
law. 

Our children need much of such training 
that they may not move with vapid stare 
through worlds of infinite reason around and 
beneath and above them. They must find 
intelligent companionship with flowers, and 
shrubs, and trees, and animals, and air, and 
blue heavens, and encircling stars, and gain 
some thoughtful apprehension of the acts, 
and industries, and thoughts, and experi- 
ences of mankind. In work of this kind our 
common schools can best meet the demands 
of a practical training, while leaving to 
higher schools of technology the work which 
our industrial trades so urgently demand, 
and which by such schools alone can be 
adequately done. 



LOWER AND HIGHER SCHOOLS. 

All lower schools need the presence of 
higher schools in all their various forms, as 
much as a foundation needs its proper 
superstructure, A sense of any fixed limit- 
ations in educational work deadens effort, 
and quenches thirst for acquisition. There 
are no limits to knowledge. Reason has a 
boundless horizon. A sense of the great 
expanse widening out before us leads us 
onward. All need the inspiration which 
comes from the knowable unknown, the 
dim outlines of which glimmer in our appre- 
hension. Although we may walk by the 
brook's side, and listen joyfully to the sweet 
music which it makes with "the enamelled 
stones," yet we must hear the rush of the 
river's wide sweep and the grand roar of the 
mighty sea, or we shall loiter too long upon 
its sedgy banks, and our journey be but half 
begun. There should be underlying all 
common school work, an elevating hope 
that many of the children, whose talents 
might otherwise be buried, will be prompted 
to advance to higher schools of training, 
and put their talents to utmost usury, and 
thus give to the Commonwealth her highest 
ornament, and guardianship, and realize in 
themselves that enlargement of mind and 



154 



DR. E. E. HIGBEE: ftf LOVING REMEMBRANCE. 



inward illumination of knowledge, Whjj^h 
gives such assured directness and quickness 
of action to every power, however challenged, 
and which, if interfused with the glow of 
Divine love and wisdom, will loose them 
from all fetters of flesh, and sense, and fate, 
and finite things, — 

" Felix qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas, 
Atque metus omnes, et inexorabile fatum 
Subjecit pedibus, strepitumque Acherontis 
avari."* 



OUR SCHOOL DIRECTORS. 

The school law rests upon the assumption 
that a large majority of the parents in the 
Commonwealth will send their children 
at a comparatively early age to the common 
schools, if such are properly provided for 
them by means of an equitable taxation 
upon the part of the State. To initiate the 
whole movement, the people in the various 
municipalities are empowered to elect a def- 
inite number of Directors, to whom is en- 
trusted this solemn work of supplying the 
children of the State with all the facilities re- 
quired to secure a thorough elementary 
training. Upon the faithful discharge of 
their duties, therefore, the efficiency and 
success of the whole interest mainly depend. 
They are at the foundation of the whole 
structure ; and they are elected, therefore, 
directly by the people, and taken from 
the immediate neighborhood in which the 
work in view is to be accomplished, that 
they may thus have the advantage of know- 
ing by daily experience the educational 
needs of their district, and of being them- 
selves personally interested in satisfying 
such needs to the fullest extent possible. 
The wisdom of such a course is at once ap- 
parent ; for it must be a sad day for a rep- 
resentative government like ours, when con- 
fidence in the people is so far lost as to lead 
the law-makers to feel that the parents of 
the Republic will not take interest enough 
in their offspring to select men of earnest 
character and resolute purpose, to supply 
them with proper schools. 

Evidently then, the sole object of the 
selection of Directors is, to supply the 
Commonwealth with such schools as shall 
meet the educational wants of the age in the 
way of elementary training. No consider- 
ations of state or governmental management 
in the way of party politics surround their 
office. It has to do with a broad and gen- 
eral interest, which of necessity includes all 

* Happy is he who hath grasped the causes of 
things, and hath cast beneath his feet all fears, and 
inexorable fate, and the din of greedy Acheron. 



parties in one common bond of fellowship. 
Neither school sites, nor school buildings, 
nor school teachers, nor school apparatus, 
nor school text books, nor school superin- 
tendents, can be made to depend upon 
party votes or political alliances. No 
science, elementary or advanced, can rec- 
ognize narrowing limitations of such char- 
acter. Grammars are not Republican or 
Democratic, nor are geographies or arith- 
metics. Much less will moral truth bend 
to such modification. Indeed, the whole 
foundation work of the Directors will be 
degraded and vitiated if allowed to be de- 
pendent in any way upon issues of such 
character. The law, therefore, had a 
reasonable right to suppose that the people 
would take sufficient interest in their own 
children to see to it that the most profound 
and wise men should be secured as the 
Directors of their schools. If such are not 
selected as a rule, we have the sad evidence 
of a wide-spread demoralization of the peo- 
ple, which demands most serious attention. 
And if the Directors, when elected, allow 
themselves to be diverted from the great 
purpose of their office, forgetting its appli- 
cation to all in common, irrespective of 
any political or social caste, it evinces a mal- 
feasance demanding a most prompt remedy. 



EDUCATION OF THE CHILDREN. 

No worthier object can engage the atten- 
tion of a State than the proper education 
of the children thereof. Even in govern- 
ments where the arts of war formed the 
main study of the governing and the chief 
practice of the governed class, the worth of 
learning, of an advanced character at least, 
was reverently recognized. Caesar pardoned 
Varro because he was the most learned man 
of his age, and made him librarian at Rome ; 
and the warrior Karl, when the Frankish 
judges had condemned Warnefried, the 
Lombard scholar, to lose his eyes and hands, 
saved him, saying: "We shall not easily 
find another hand that can write history." 
But where, as now, the arts of peace come 
into special prominence, and where the 
very purpose of legislation is the highest 
welfare of the people, no State can neglect 
the general educational discipline of the 
young, without setting aside the foundation 
itself upon which its claim to legislate at all 
is based. 

Of course, much elementary training is 
carried forward by the family, where father 
and mother are the divinely-ordained guides 
and guardians of their offspring ; and that 
Commonwealth would be weak indeed, the 



CL OSER INSPECTION AND SUPER VISION NEEDED. 



155 



cultured purity of whose home- life forms | 
not its chief pillar of support. But the re- 
lation between home and the so called com- 
mon school is most intimate. The children 
go from one to the other and return day after 
day through years. The opening of school 
creates a kind of festival stir in every house- 
hold, and, as the term goes on, the com- 
munion becomes so close that the new com- 
panionships and disciplinary restraints and 
study-tasks of the school-room move into 
the loving converse and freedom of the fam- 
ily life as a part of its experience, each add- 
ing effect to the other, as bird-songs float 
into the morning's dewy calm and become 
part of the rising day. 

An agency, therefore, so cooperant with 
the family life, taking character therefrom, 
and adding character thereto; an agency 
so capable of becoming a lasting blessing, as 
it should, or a blighting curse, as it may, 
throughout the thousands of homes which 
make up a State, clearly demands the most 
watchful care of those who make and execute 
the laws, and should never be felt to be a 
subordinate interest or mere accident in our 
halls of legislation. If the fish in our rivers 
and the game in our forests, with the forests 
themselves, are of sufficient importance in 
our social life to command the protection of 
legislation; if the difficult problems grow- 
ing out of the strained relations of capital 
and labor are of interest enough to demand 
the skill of our most thoughtful law-makers; 
if the methods of taxation and means of 
commercial intercourse and the treatment of 
paupers and the insane well deserve the calm 
consideration of our ablest statesmen, then, 
most certainly, the training of a whole gen- 
eration of children, numbering in our State 
more than a million, affecting, as it must, 
our present social life, and reaching out into 
the future and conditioning the destiny of 
the Republic, deserves and demands the 
best thought and highest wisdom of the 
Legislature of an enlightened Common- 
wealth like ours. 

Too often is it the case, we fear, that 
some of the most significant forces of our 
social order, because silent in their opera- 
tion, insignificant in their outward show, 
and more spiritual than material in their re- 
sults, escape consideration. Who will deny 
that the primary education of a whole 
generation of boys and girls is a significant 
factor of social progress ? How far the possi- 
bilities with which it has to do, sweep beyond 
the vision which generally catches the eye 
of our business men and politicians, and how 
much deeper and broader are the responsibil- 



ities involved in the care of a million unde- 
veloped minds than most of us are ready or 
williing to acknowledge ! But so quietly 
does the whole work link itself to our homely 
everyday life, so modestly does it hide itself 
away from public notoriety to keep nearer 
to our hearth-stones, that it may almost 
entirely fail to find that recognition and 
attention which it ought. 



CLOSER SUPERVISION. 

No matter has given us more concern 
than the inspection and supervision of our 
schools. The field, including the whole 
State, is that of an empire. Many counties 
have become so populous as to have quite 
outgrown the old system of inspection. The 
introduction of city and borough superin- 
tendents has helped to bridge over for a 
time these difficulties, but, even with their 
aid, our present system of county superin- 
tendency needs enlargement to make itself 
properly felt. It is accomplishing all it 
can, and we have no complaint whatever to 
make against the superintendents, but we 
have abundant reason rather to admire 
their faithfulness and zeal. Any one can 
see, however, that to spread the labor of one 
man, no matter how capable he may be, 
over a range of districts where three or four 
hundred teachers are employed, must, of 
necessity, make it very thin. Frequent 
visitations, or a thorough examination of 
school-rooms and grounds and appliances, 
and many other matters which require con- 
stant watchfulness, are simply impossible. 

What is needed — how much, only those 
familiar with school work can tell — is that 
our school directors be permitted by law 
to form circuits, (made up of contiguous 
districts, or districts near at hand within 
their own counties, ) including a population 
not greater than five thousand, or of a single 
district including not less than ten schools, 
each of which circuits shall have a district 
superintendent, elected by the directors 
residing therein, whose duty it shall be to 
report to them and to the county superin- 
tendent each month during school term, the 
condition and progress of the schools with- 
in his circuit after a careful inspection, giv- 
ing full details of all that the county super- 
intendent and himself may feel to be neces- 
sary for the further improvement and effi- 
ciency of the educational work therein. 
The district superintendent should be paid 
out of the funds of the district or districts 
constituting his circuit, each district paying 
its pro rata share, and his minimum salary 



i 5 6 



DR. E. E. MI G BEE: IN LOVING REMEMBRANCE. 



should be equal to the highest salary paid to 
any teacher within his circuit. All this 
more definite inspection should be under the 
control of the county superintendent, who 
should have authority to commission the 
district superintendents within his county 
upon their election by the directors, with 
power to revoke the same on the same 
grounds as he now has power to revoke a 
teacher's certificate. In case of resignation 
or vacancy arising from any cause whatever, 
the directors should be authorized to pro- 
ceed at once to the election of a successor 
for the unexpired term. The term of office 
and qualification of candidate should be 
the same as in the case of a county superin- 
tendent. 

This, while giving us more close inspec- 
tion, will not multiply coordinate school 
officers in the county. The county super- 
intendent will continue to be chief super- 
visor, and the only one authorized to sign 
certificates. These district superintendents 
will be his aids, through whom he can reach 
every school in his territory ; for these dis- 
trict superintendents can take a careful 
census of the schools, and discover the 
number of children deprived of educational 
privileges ; they can correct the irregularity 
of attendance by reporting monthly to the 
directors and superintendents, and devising 
remedial plans ; they can regulate the organ- 
ization of libraries, and form an intelligent 
comparison of the districts and schools in 
relation to apparatus, text-books, and 
school-buildings and grounds ; they can 
conduct evening meetings and local insti- 
tutes, arousing interest among the immedi- 
ate patrons, and stimulating a healthy emula- 
tion between the schools; they can, by 
their monthly or more frequent visitations, 
accomplish more fully what the law has 
required of the directors, and which, 
although required, has been in very many 
cases neglected ; they can aid the directors 
in their selection of teachers qualified for 
their special fields, and they will educate 
themselves into a body whose good execu- 
tive ability in the management of schools 
will be a help which every earnest county 
superintendent will hold in the' very highest 
regard, and which, indeed, he must have if 
he is to make his own labors in a county 
effective in the way of frequent and definite 
inspection. 

In view of the various records to be kept 
by the county superintendent, and the ne- 
cessity of having some fixed office for consul- 
tation, and for various other reasons, the 
common custom, followed in very many of 



our counties, of giving him a fixed office in 
the county court-house, should be an estab- 
lished law. The propriety and advantage of 
having the various competing school books 
and series of school books upon all subjects 
taught in the common schools, and the various 
kinds of improved school apparatus, school 
furniture and appliances, exposed in such 
office for the ready inspection of teachers, 
directors and friends of education, will at 
once be perceived, and should commend 
the measure to the favorable consideration 
of the Legislature. 



ARBOR DAY. 

Recognizing the peculiar fitness of the 
Executive proclamation fixing an Arbor Day 
for the Commonwealth, it has been our 
effort and pleasure to make it in every way 
as efficient for good as possible in relation 
to our public schools. Here, among the 
children, habits of thought and feeling in 
regard to the benefits and uses of tree- 
planting can be formed, which will deter 
them, it is hoped, from that destructive 
greed which has forgotten the value and 
beauty of green woodlands and parks, and 
the glory of shadowy hills and leaf-hidden 
streams, where the trout snaps the unwary 
fly, and the liverworts peep out from the 
dewy moss, and wake-robins nod their 
heads to the answering ferns. Children 
need, in their innocent up-springing, to 
have room to get away from the garish sun 
and rest, as upon a mother's bosom, in the 
twilight silence of the growing woods. We 
have endeavored to keep in view, so far as 
possible, the educational power of such 
things, by urging that our school-grounds 
be supplied with shade-trees and shrubs and 
flowers, and that the naked walls of our 
school-buildings be trellised over with vines. 
Children feel most deeply the ministry of 
that which charms the eye. 

We are what sun and winds and water make us ; 
The mountains are our sponsors, and the rills 
Fashion and win their nursling with their smiles. 

Unconsciously each impression of such 
character sinks into the tender depths of 
their souls, and there it remains, as, in re- 
flection, do the willows in the placid stream. 
In fact the scenes of nature are perennial 
companions, growing more friendly from 
year to year. Those most familiar, wher- 
ever we may be, are ever entering the study 
of our imagination, and often giving direc- 
tion even to our acts. " The shepherd," as 
with exquisite pathos has been said by 
Wordsworth, " is half a shepherd on the 



THE WORLD OF REASON THAT CONFRONTS THE CHILD. 



'57 



stormy sea, and hears in piping shrouds the 
tones of waterfalls, and inland sounds of 
caves and trees; and in the bosom of the 
deep, sees mountains, sees the forms of 
sheep that grazed on verdant hills." 

Arbor Day, repeated in our schools from 
year to year, will cultivate a reverent love of 
nature, will lead our children to value stu- 
dious walks along our streams and hills, and 
through our winding valleys and wide, windy 
sweeps of harvest fields and meadows, and 
into our bosky dells to waken courteous 
Echo to give them answer from her mossy 
couch. There is a power and culturing 
beauty in all this which every child may 
experience if he will ; and Arbor Day serves 
to enforce it upon his thought. Why should 
not our school children cherish a holiday 
which brings them into direct sympathy with 
the sweet companionship of man with na- 
ture? Why should they not offer their aid 
in giving to our school-grounds green lawns 
over which the wind-stirred trees may scatter 
gold and porphyry, — where the laughing daf- 
fodils may welcome the returning swallows, 
and glowing clusters of chrysanthemums may 
soften the cold of Autumn winds with 
thoughts of summer ? Why should they not 
surround their school home, which they 
must so soon leave for the harsh toil of busi- 
ness life, with all that can make the memory 
of it a joy forever ? 



CHILDREN NOT IN THE SCHOOLS. 

The organization of our system of public 
schools presupposes that the children of the 
Commonwealth shall receive the benefits 
thereof, and that no children, if possible, 
shall grow up in ignorance, or without a 
good common-school education. The chil- 
dren need this, and the State must also guard 
itself against the serious perils of ignorance ; 
for, as Gcethe has well said, " nothing is 
more terrible than active ignorance. ' ' Every 
effort, therefore, should be made to carry 
out this plain pre-supposition of the school 
system. At present, however, we have no 
authorized means of determining the num- 
ber of children between any ages who are 
deprived of the benefits of our public 
schools and of all other opportunities of 
education. This number may be large or 
small. If large, the danger is only the 
greater; if small, it should be promptly 
reduced to a minimum. 

In our judgment, the Legislature should 
require every district school board to ap- 
point an officer, whose duty it shall be to 
take a careful census every year of all the 



children of school age within its jurisdic- 
tion ; of all who attend the public schools, 
and private or select schools, and all who 
attend no school whatever, between the 
ages of six and eighteen. Upon the basis 
of such authorized statistics, reported an- 
nually to the School Department, we can 
easily ascertain the number of non-attend- 
ants, and open the way for proper legisla- 
tion in protection of the young, who, at 
their own peril and that of the State, are 
growing up in ignorance. 

If, in conjunction with this, our superin- 
tendents will secure from every school with- 
in their jurisdiction a carefully- prepared 
table showing the number of all pupils at- 
tending less than twenty days, all attending 
from twenty to forty days, and for every 
additional twenty days throughout the legal 
school year, we can form some correct con- 
ception of the irregularity of attendance, 
which also demands careful watching. This 
is an additional argument for that closer 
supervision and inspection which are so ur- 
gently needed. 



A WORD TO TEACHERS. 

Because various artificial arrangements 
become necessary in the management of 
school-work, and well defined courses of 
study are demanded to render graded schools 
possible, accompanied as they must be with 
examinations to condition transitions from 
one grade to another, teachers need great 
caution against the danger of making the aim 
and uses of instruction bend to these ar- 
rangements and examination in such way as 
to injure both themselves and their pupils. 
Children must be taught to read, for ex- 
ample : but the aim here, upon the part of 
the teacher, must be something higher than 
the successful passage of the pupil from one 
Reader to another through the monotonous 
text-book march of grade to grade. The 
end in view is to enable the child clearly to 
grasp the world of reason that confronts 
him in the visible forms of his mother- 
tongue. At some stage of the process, 
therefore, the mere act of learning to read 
must pass over into reading for the sake of 
gathering wisdom from the word-embodied 
experience and thought of mankind, awaken- 
ing in such transition a greater thirst for 
knowledge than the narrowing ambition to 
pass an examination on pauses, inflections, 
emphasis, tones, etc., which are but the 
scaffoldings of expression. These are good 
in their place, and may require some atten- 
tion in the process. But the process in no 



I5§ 



DR. E. E. HI 'G BEE: IN LOVING REMEMBRANCE. 



sense is toward them, but toward the sub- 
stance and grandeur of literature. Schools 
need well- selected libraries, to which teach- 
ers and pupils may have free and frequent 
access, that the prescribed course of the 
school, going through six Readers it may be, 
shall not fetter both alike in the great work 
begun. 

In every elementary study, in fact, the 
teacher should have a clear vision of the 
end toward which it moves, and direct the 
awakening mind of the child thitherward 
with no uncertain or vacillating step. There 
must be teleology in teaching. The end 
must be seen in the beginning, and serve as 
a directive and inspiring motive throughout 
the whole advance. To plant a walnut simply 
as a seed, without reference to what is legiti- 
mately involved in its growth and develop- 
ment, is but to stick it at random in the 
ground, near the building it may be, to 
thrust its branches against the windows 
which are to admit light, or at the very edge 
of the walk, to impede exit and entrance, 
and endanger its own preservation. To 
start upon any given course of study with- 
out knowing the end toward which it logi- 
cally directs itself, is to start at random 
and with unsteady gait. Children demand a 
proper guidance in this regard. They are 
not things, — they are living souls. Already 
in rudimentary form the various sciences 
are enveloped in them, from the very fact 
that they have an understanding which may 
be interfused with an inner rational light, 
and come under the sway of truth. 

The teacher must be able to make full ac- 
count of this, and in his most primary in- 
struction be sure that he is turning the glance 
of the pupil toward knowledge — toward truth 
a recipient form for which the intellect is — 
and not toward arranged limitations of 
grade ; that his orienting it not false, and 
the whole process not cramped and fettered, 
either by his own too narrow vision or by 
the necessary machinery of his school. The 
most advanced and noblest scholar will find 
that he can take the soft hand of his youngest 
pupil, and soon realize how eagerly his own 
slightest onward leading will be followed by 
the child ; for mind delights to marry mind, 
and science is but the truth of the world in 
forms of reason, which reason seeks, and 
without which it can not be satisfied. At 
times — no one can fix these in way of pre- 
scription, for mental regeneration is a mys- 
tery only less profound than that of the 
spirit — at times he will challenge the child's 
tender eyes, already filled with wonder-mist, 
to a still higher vision seen as yet in but 



dim, shadowy outline, as by no legerdemain 
but with a master's power he removes one 
fold of the curtain and shows him the glory 
of the worlds beyond. 

The power of the teacher is in his own 
far seeing, not directed to examinations and 
transitions from prescribed grade to grade, 
but to the vast expanse which is involved in 
the infinite possibilities of the souls with 
which he has to do. His office in this light 
is truly great, and its responsibility most 
solemn. It involves deep reverence for the 
most advanced scholarship, and an awe- 
inspiring sense of the destiny of man as 
transcending all knowledge, and capable at 
present of being seen but dimly and in 
enigma. 

Tropically, or in way of allegory, we can 
best express what we mean, allowing each one 
to interpret from his own standpoint of vis- 
ion. Across the stream whose rapid wa- 
ters bar his direct and timid progress, the 
child must be lifted from stepping-stone to 
stepping-stone, — then led on through the 
thick shade of mossy woods, among ferns 
and cardinal flowers, still moving upward 
through the tangled and blossomy pathway 
where thorns threaten and eglantines sweeten 
the toil, — then still onward with more reliant 
step across the wide spread table-land of 
meadows made green by the mountain 
springs where he can find refreshing rest, — 
then still upward with a greater strength of 
self-possession to the very summit of the 
thunder-smitten rock, where before him in 
vision far outreaching his most ardent ex- 
pectation he sees with wistful eyes the silvery 
winding rivers, — the scattered villages along 
their margins — the mist hovering over the 
distant valleys that sweep onward until they 
vanish in storm- haunted hills overarched 
with glowing amethyst. Anon Hespe- 
rus comes leading on his host of stars, 
Arcturus and his sons, belted Orion, the 
clustered glory of the Pleiades, and the 
Swan with outstretched wings sweeping up 
the Milky Way : and all this, with infinitely 
more, when thus seen, comes to be for him 
but this Universe bending in adoration and 
joining with Cherubim and Seraphim and 
veiled angels in crying Holy ! holy ! holy ! 
Lord God Almighty ! Heaven and earth 
are full of the majesty of Thy glory ! 

This is not the prescribed course of study 
which confronts the teacher, but it should 
in his inner sense be made to interfuse it, 
and give to it its meaning and significance, 
so that the child while moving under his 
guidance may feel, however faintly, the 
worth and dignity of his own soul. 



SOME PARAGRAPHS TAKEN FROM HIS LETTERS. 



159 



EXTRACTS FROM HIS LETTERS. 

Have just come in from a visit with Mr. 
— .The sunset was most charming. Such a 
delicate purple tinge was on the clouds ! 
such a rich golden glow along the horizon, 
and such a strange sombre green on the 
forests! When we returned to the Semi- 
nary, the moon was shining through the 
clouds. What a glorious pearly car she 
rode in ! A thousand fancies crowded my 
brain. A thousand sweet memories awakened 
in my heart. ' Twere vain to strive to give 
them utterance in words; yet the feeling 
most prominent was that of praise to God 
who made the earth so wondrous fair, and 
gave us hearts to know Him and its glory. 
How often in striving to be fit for a better 
world, we lose sight of the fact that we are 
not even fit for this ! How many passions 
mar the calmness of our peace ! How many 
things neglected take away the sweet ap- 
provals of conscience! How many tres- 
passes turn to discord the precious harmony 
which ought to reign in our moral nature! 
" We are as sheep gone astray," but return- 
ing, I trust, to the Shepherd and Bishop of 
our souls. It will not be long before the 
twilight of our little life will come, — not 
long before darkness will close in upon our 
earthly career, and our bodies now warm 
with life will sleep all still below the grass 
and flowers which some friend will put over 
our graves. How little before that time 
shall we be able to do ! How poorly pre- 
pared for our account and for the abode of 
blessed spirits ! We must work while the 
day lasts, lest we fail in hearing that "Well 
done, good and faithful servant." Perhaps 
there is no better field for labor than our 
own hearts. Certainly we at least can 
make ourselves more blessed as examples to 
our friends. Too often in our anxiety to 
improve others and turn them to Christ and 
his kingdom, we forget that we require the 
same anxiety, the same earnest watchfulness, 
and the same fervent prayers. 

* * * * 

Sunday morning : The sky is covered 
with clouds and everything betokens rain. 
"Hath the rain a father?" What a glo- 
rious mystery the processes of nature mani- 
fest ! How evident that the whole order 
of the natural world has been and is guided 
by infinite intelligence ! How much more 
are we cared for by God than is the grass 
which perisheth ! Could we but realize this, 
and will to rest in God, obeying His voice 
as it reaches us in His Church and is ever 
strengthened by our own reason and con- 
science, what marvellous beauty would char- 



acterize our human life ! How calm our 
own trust, how precious our family-life and 
altars, how free from enmity society, how 
charming the unselfishness of friendship, 
and holy the companionship of love ! We 
ourselves have made earth miserable by 
yielding our allegiance to sin, and only 
by turning with sad penitent hearts to 
Christ, the Redeemer, can we ever hope 
to find rest or peace. 

Monday passed off quietly for a birthday. 
A kind Providence, who has given me so 
many years, commenced this new one with 
a most lovely day. The sun shone won- 
drously warm and bright. The insects were 
glittering in its light. The grass seemed to 
be springing into verdure. The elms and 
poplars were in blossom, and a wave of life 
seemed to be passing over the earth. I 
think it fortunate that my birthday comes 
so near the opening spring, when nature is 
reviving and inspiring us with hopes. I 
wish you had been here to take a ramble in 
the woods. You would hardly recognize the 
old walk, every part of the scenery is so 
rapidly changing. The soft purple and 
azure which you saw not, is now covering 
the mountain and filling every opening in 
the hills, and the sunlight puts a golden- 
green gleam over the wheat-fields that are 
scattered with such beautiful variety between 
us and the "Gap." The sombre dullness 
of the tree branches has given place to an 
almost sparkling lustre. It would do you 
good to stand on the hill out the lane near 
the woods, and mark the changing pano- 
rama. — March 2Q, 1865. 

* * * * 

How much I do wish I could have been 
with you in the glorious mountains. Noth- 
ing so exalts my feelings and enlarges my 
sympathies as the shadowy valleys and tow- 
ering hills, and it is a great treat for me to 
get out into the wild woods, as far beyond 
gaudy civilization as possible, to refresh my- 
self on the lap of Mother Nature. Then 
one forgets the littleness of our common life, 
the transient prejudices, the little puffs of 
anger, the sharp frost of malice, and above 
all the low hypocrisies of men, as he gazes 
into the noble open face of things that greets 
so congenially every one who walks through 
the long sweep of mountains and woodlands. 
When you once smell the fragrance of the 
pines, and see the nodding fox gloves, and 
the waving marshweeds, and the frolic of 
birds, and a thousand nameless beauties of 
the country, all thoughts of the strange 
struggles and contradictions of men fade and 



i6o 



DR. E. E. HIGBEE: IN LOVING REMEMBRANCE. 



vanish, and calm happy content dwells in 
the spirit. Is it not so ? Hence I love such 
jaunts as you most beautifully describe, and 
wish, as I read, that I had been there. We 
may yet enjoy some jaunt together. I can- 
not walk as you can ; but every mouldering 
log tempts me to stop and meditate, and I 
fear you would soon tire of such a compan- 
ion. The Indian summer is now here, sweet 
dream of the months that have fled, hazy, 
warm and unspeakably charming. I have 
but few moments to spare in enjoying it in 
any field-walks, but in spirit I am traversing 
the hillside almost every hour. 

* * * * 

They expect an oration from me pecu- 
liarly classical and literary — every produc- 
tion that I have given them thus far from 
the stage has naturally been moulded in this 
cast. In this they will be entirely disap- 
pointed, for I continually hear a voice 
within me saying, "Go to teaeh by your 
oration rather than to please." I am com- 
pelled by my conscience to choose a theo- 
logical subject, and such I have chosen — at 
once the deepest in theology and the most 
vital in reference to practical piety — "The 
relation of the Church to the Incarnation in 
the Creed." I shall treat the subject in a 
purely scientific and philosophic way. My 
piece will be burdened with thought without 
any regard to embellishment or ornament, 
and without the least regard to the prevail- 
ing theological dogmas of Puritanism. I 
shall present the Church as she is, the glor- 
ious living body of the Redeemer. I shall 
present the Incarnation as it is, — the great 
mystery, the central sacrament of the uni- 
verse. — June 12, 1832, having reference to 
Master's Oration at University of Vermont. 

* * * * 

It may be true, as you say, that there is 
but little opportunity of enjoying a delight- 
ful and instructive religious conversation in 
ordinary society ; but still, aside from the 
solid peace of reflection, bending back into 
the interior of our own being, there is the 
fellow-citizenship of the saints, which affords 
each one of us a large field for precious 
communion. I mean by the saints not 
simply the living, but the long catalogue of 
God's servants from Abel to the present 
hour. Is it not delightful to feel that be- 
fore the eye of our faith there is such a vast 
cloud of witnesses, and that, although we 
may not open our hearts to them in prayer, 
we can still feel their sympathy as we bow 
in adoration before their and our Redeemer? 
We live not by sight as Christians, and we 
must feel that our faith really brings us into 



the household of God, whatever maybe our 
earthly surroundings, so that even if we are 
alone we yet enjoy the "Communion of 
Saints." Fixed upon the foundation of the 
prophets and apostles, can we not in reality 
walk and commune with them if we walk by 
faith and not by sight? 

* * * * 

The order of the week thus far, now inter- 
rupted by the rain which is falling rapidly, 
has been gardening. The potatoes and on- 
ions and parsnips and peas and lettuce are 
in the ground, — bravo! — and now every 
morning you may imagine me leisurely limp- 
ing (my knee is not well yet) through the 
garden, lynx-eyed to see the least evidence of 
germination. How delightful to watch with 
affection the mysterious operations of nature 
— to see with what charming confidence the 
little seed in its t hidden laboratory trans- 
forms the crude material into forms and 
colors as beautiful as they are regular, never 
failing and never fatigued, never at a loss 
and never dissatisfied. " Behold the lilies 
of the field; they toil not neither do they 
spin, yet Solomon in all his glory was not ar- 
rayed like one of these." 

Yet after all how much more mysterious 
and glorious are the operations of our moral 
nature, where in consciousness we grasp the 
whole process, where in will we determine, 
creating amidst the created and creative, 
with a heart glowing with promise and self- 
inspiring love, knowing that the Lord is our 
Shepherd, and that our mission is such as to 
involve the very highest revelation of the Di- 
vine. Thus continually, as I walk the gar- 
den, do I sermonize, and every newly-grow- 
ing weed or plant jots down the divisions 
of some homily. 

* * * * 

What precious gifts are these little chil- 
dren that God giveth us — sometimes, I fear, 
binding our hearts too much to earth, when 
they should, however, draw them still nearer 
to God ; and when taken away, forcing from 
us, too often, I fear, an agonizing murmur 
instead of leading us to that difficult yet 
blessed resignation : God giveth, and taketh 
away ; blessed be the name of the Lord. 

* * * * 

God's providences are mysterious, and 
not one of us knows what calling of life is 
best for us, temporally or spiritually. What 
a varying life I have had, and how little 
after my choice or election ! When I look 
back upon it, I can see that I had no con- 
trolling power over it. But God has been 
merciful and kind, and I ought to be filled 
with unfeigned gratitude — and I am. 



THE GREAT SEAL OF THE COMMONWEALTH. 



PROCLAMATION OF GOVERNOR BEAVER. 

In the name and by authority of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania : 

A PROCLAMATION. 

Again devolves upon the Executive the sad duty of announcing to the 
people of this Commonwealth the death of an eminent citizen and faithful 
official. Dr. E. E. Higbee, Superintendent of Public Instruction, died 
this morning at his home in the City of Lancaster. For nearly nine years 
and by the appointment of three successive Governors he served the 
people of this State with singular fidelity, and purity, and singleness of 
purpose, as the honored head of the Educational Department of the State 
Government. 

He was born March 27, 1830, and graduated from the University of 
Vermont in 1849. He received his professional education at the theolog- 
ical seminary at Mercersburg, in this State, and entered the ministry in 
1854. He became professor of languages in Heidelberg College, Ohio, in 
1859 ; but three years later removed to the city of Pittsburgh, and resumed 
his labors in the ministry. Soon after he returned, as one of its profes- 
sors, to the theological seminary from which he graduated, and in 1867 
was elected to the presidency of Mercersburg College, which position he 
filled until his appointment as Superintendent of Public Instruction in 
1 88 1, and this latter office he held by re-appointment in 1885 and 1889, 
until the time of his death. 

Dr. Higbee was a man of broad culture, a polished and thoughtful 
scholar, familiar alike with the treasures of ancient and modern thought 
and literature. As an instructor his extraordinary attainments and varied 
resources brought to him abundant success in every department of effort ; 
and as an educator, in its broadest and best sense, he had attained a rank 
among the first of the nation. As a public officer he was painstaking and 
conscientious ; as a man he was pure, simple-hearted and genial, gentle 
and kind. 

The teachers of the State and his associates in the great work of edu- 
cation loved him with a filial devotion, and the Commonwealth trusted 
him as a pure, noble, true, and honest man. 

The funeral services will be held at the First Reformed church in 
Lancaster, on Monday, December 16th, at half-past 11 o'clock a. m. 

Given under my hand and the Great Seal of the State, at the City of 
Harrisburg, this 13th day of December, in the year of our Lord one thou- 
sand eight hundred and eighty-nine, and of the Commonwealth the one 
hundred and fourteenth. 

By the Governor : JAMES A. BEAVER. 

Chas. W. Stone, 

Secretary of the Commonwealth. 



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